


Mind Games

by GuiltyKingOumaShu



Category: Guilty Crown
Genre: Apocalypse, F/M, Post-Anime
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-28
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2018-04-23 20:49:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 83,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4891774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuiltyKingOumaShu/pseuds/GuiltyKingOumaShu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Did you ever wonder how far you would be willing to go to get your loved ones back? What would be the price you would be willing to pay to fill the void in your heart?" She heard him ask with a sad smile as he raised his arms to make her look at their surroundings. Nothing but burning ruins. "This was my answer." She shook her head in denial. She couldn't let this happen to him. But will she be able to cure his broken heart and save him from despair before he destroys everything, including himself? [Slight Shu/Ayase, Post-Anime, Oneshot]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Mind Games**

It's been a long time…

It's been a long time since he had fallen, since he had been banished from the world of light.

Once he had been a king, fighting for humankind's preservation. Their future. But all it got him in return was pain and regret. Nowadays he was nothing more but a shunned warrior of hope who was now abandoned by the very same thing that he had been supposed to once represent.

And so, cast away as he was, he merely lied there on his bed like a discarded toy. A plaything of fate, devoid of all the bravery and strength he had held this long time ago. No one but the shadows which surrounded him seemed to want him, thus they wrapped themselves around him hungrily, shrouding him into this cold and bleak world that had now become his.

Sometimes, as if to mock him, he could feel the sun's warmth on his skin, constantly reminding him that it was still there, yet never granting him but the slightest shimmer of light to illuminate the darkness that embraced him. It was as if it meant to share its light with anyone but him, deeming him unworthy of it. He could almost hear it snicker at him tauntingly. It knew he could do nothing anymore to change his situation at this point.

He had lost. Everything. The war was over and he was the sole loser of it all. He deserved every jeer and every mockery there was. For he had been a fool all along. A savior they had made him be. But in the end, he had never been meant to save that what had really been important to him.

They had played their game and they had played it well. Now there was nothing more to do but rot away in this small personal hell of his. It was what he deserved for his foolishness.

"It doesn't have to end like this, you know?" Came the voice of a familiar man from the direction of the door to his room. The blind king frowned for a second as he tried to recall whose voice it was, but once he did, he merely closed his eyes and sighed in what looked to be disappointment.

"So it's you. I've had a feeling we would meet again someday." He said to his uninvited visitor.

"And yet you don't seem to be alarmed at all. For someone who fought me so vigorously the last time we met, your reaction this time is so very…disappointing." He heard the man's steps as he walked into the room and found his place next to the king's bed. Despite his words, his voice itself sounded somewhat amused, curios even. It was as if he wanted to understand what was going on in the fallen monarch's head.

"I am part of that world no longer. Whether you and that shady organization you are a part of want to end the world or not is none of my business anymore. I am done with it all, so if you have come to finish me off, hurry it up a bit. I am already sick of this world. If you haven't, though, then just leave me alone. At least allow me to rot away in peace."

The blond man in a white coat only chuckled as he shook his head.

"I have not come to end you, Ouma Shu. Rather than that, I have come to save you. I will offer you the hand that shall pull you out of the abyss you have plunged yourself into, and on the wings of Da'ath we shall ride together into the light of a glorious, better future. What do you say? Aren't you tired of this world? Won't you join me to create a better one?"

The broken king turned his head into the direction of the envoy, where he assumed he held out a hand to grab for him, but instead of reaching out, he just frowned once more and turned away, looking into the direction of where he thought his window had to be, imagining to look into the starry sky of the night. One he couldn't see anymore.

"I might not care much for this world anymore, but what good would a new one be? I've already lost what was most precious to me…a new world won't bring her back."

He heard the envoy chuckle once more and could almost see the smirk that was undoubtedly planted on his face at the very moment.

"But what if I told you it would?"

The king turned around immediately, staring into the direction of his visitor in anger.

"Liar! Do not take me for a mindless fool, Yuu! I might be a broken man, but don't think I will fall for this idiotic nonsense even for a second." His empty gaze sunk down to his clenched fist he held in front of him, sadness finding its way into his voice. "Not even Da'ath would be able to bring back what is already gone…"

But the envoy merely shrugged at that. "Why not? We did it once, didn't we? Or have you forgotten Tsutsugami Gai's revival?"

The brunette only shook his head slowly in disapproval.

"He was not the same man…"

"And neither would Yuzuriha Inori be. Unless you happen to hold her soul."

"Her soul…?" The king's hand found its way to his chest, where he knew his void lied. Inside it resided many things. The virus he had assumed during the last apocalypse and also the soul that was given to him by his love. That's right. He held her soul inside his. As realization overcame him, so did a mischievous smirk the envoy's face.

"It seems that you understand."

"Could it…really be possible, after all?" For the first time in these three years the brunette man allowed himself to let hope return into his heart. The cold darkness that still surrounded him remained where it was, but its grip on him didn't seem to be as suffocating anymore. Some of his strength returned into his limbs, letting eagerness to stand up once more for one last fight spread through them. He obliged as he got up. Much to the envoy's content.

"Of course it is…and that's not even all. Not only will you be able to feel the warmth of the woman you loved, you will also be allowed to see her again." The blond man said proudly, followed by shrugging the king's amazement off.

"To be honest, I don't even know why you are still blind. The technology to fix your eyesight has been around for over a decade already."

The envoy could only see the king clench his fists in disappointment.

"Maybe, but who could afford it anyway? The amount of money they were willing to give me after I had stopped you was pitiful. With the economy as bad as it is, that was apparently all they could spare. It barely was enough to get a new arm."

"Is that so? Well, we won't charge anything for it, you know? Neither the eyes, nor the revival of Yuzuriha Inori." Shu could sense the man in front of him holding out his hand again for him to take. "All you need to do is come with me."

The king looked down at where he assumed the hand to be, yet hesitated with a frown.

"Yes, but instead of money, you will desire something else. Something that could be far worse. What will it be, Yuu? What sins will I have to commit for siding with the devil?"

The grin on the envoy's face only grew wider.

"Does it really matter?"

That was all he said in response, drowning the room in a deep silence soon afterwards. No one moved, no one spoke. One might have even wondered if the two men in the room even breathed. It was as if time had stopped for a short while, only to resume once the king uttered a deep sigh.

"No, I suppose it doesn't." He took the envoy's hand and shook it firmly.

"Good choice. Welcome aboard Da'ath, Ouma Shu. The organization that shall bring you back into the light."

"Even if it means letting everything else fall into darkness…" Shu added with a somewhat pained looking smile. "Another sinful crown to adorn. So be it."

-GC-

It's been a long time…

It's been a long time since he had heard the gears of war turning. The cries of anguish coming together with the occasional sound of explosions to form a grotesque hymn of death that surrounded him entirely, blocking out every other sound.

It has come to a point in which he couldn't even tell the cries apart anymore, unable to say for sure what the original source of them might have been. Battle cries, death cries, cries of regret or of hatred…who uttered them didn't even matter at this point. Whether it was a soldier shouting out his curses as the flame of his life got sniffed out or merely a mother yelling up into the skies to ask the gods why her child had been taken from her…in the end, it didn't make a difference.

They were all the same before him. Sacrificial pawns for his selfishness. Casualties caused by a man who bore the sinful crown of guilt. Their blood would forever be on his hands. The hands who gathered the souls of countless innocents so that he could get a single one back.

He understood the gravity of his actions. How what he had done and will be doing was considered to be something unforgivable. But that was alright. He did not seek forgiveness, nor did he seek sympathy. No, he wanted happiness. Unfortunately, though, happiness was in high demand, making it expensive and hard to gain.

No one had really seen it coming. How he could have done such a thing. Ouma Shu, the hero of Japan. The savior of the world. The one who eradicated the apocalypse virus. All of that was the same guy who would later become a traitor to humankind. The man who would bring back the genocidal virus of mass-destruction with the very same hands that had supposedly rid the world of it in the first place.

They had been shocked. They had thought they must have been mistaken. But it had been no mistake. He had decided that the savior would become the harbinger of utter destruction. It had been his choice, and he had no regrets.

There may have been wishes for another way, even from him. There may also have been hesitation at first. But in the end, this had been the path he was set on. The choice had been a rather straight forward one. Walk this path and try to attain happiness, or remain on your previous one and rot away in darkness forever.

He had been a kind man. A man who had wished the best for his friends. But he had only been a man nonetheless. A flawless being such as god might have been strong enough to resist temptation, to be willing to keep bearing the burden of sin all alone for eternity surrounded in nothing but darkness, but a man would not.

And so his weak heart had given in, willing to bear its claws into the first opportunity it had seen to escape its pitiful fate. Rather than rotting away in the darkness, it would do whatever it could to find its way back into the light. The price for that decision was what he saw and heard now before him as he stood on the roof of the Kuhouin group's headquarters, 8 floors above ground.

Tokyo lied to his feet. It was night, yet the city was completely visible to him, although not for the same reason it normally would have. Instead of the lights of the street lamps and cars passing by, the city shone in the reddish light of the fires that consumed it. Smoke rose up as far as his eyes could see, creating a curtain of blackness that even prevented the stars and moon from bearing witness to the mayhem he had caused.

In the distance, sirens could be heard. People were crying as they tried escaping from death. To no avail. The apocalypse virus was back and would consume them all in time. Just as it was already consuming him.

Half his face was shrouded in the crystalline cancer that came with it and he could feel the virus spread elsewhere on his body as well. Not fast, but gradually. The harbinger would be last to succumb to it, but that was fine. He would have enough time to summon Mana's soul back and give it to Da'ath. Once they had it, they would bring her back, thus fulfilling the contract. They would get their Eve and he would get Inori. Then he would simply bring the apocalypse for them and make sure the world would get wiped clean to enable them all to have a fresh start. He wouldn't care what Mana or Da'ath would be doing after that…let them do whatever the hell they wanted. All he cared about was to be with the woman he loved. That was all that mattered.

As long as he could have that, he would be fine with watching the world burn.

A pained smile appeared on his lips. Yes, in the end he really became a guilty king, sacrificing his kingdom for his queen. Betraying his vassals' trust just to fix a mistake from his past.

Someday, the harsh punishment for his actions would undoubtedly come. And he would accept it.

He only hoped the punishment wouldn't happen too soon.

Looking down on the streets below, he saw Da'ath soldiers fighting the forces of the Japanese Self Defense Force. People were getting slaughtered by the second, torn apart by a hail of bullets out of an Endlave's chaingun or turned to shreds by a rocket from an RPG. He watched the battle calmly as he heard his allies reporting the battle's progress to him vial radio.

"I'm pinned down here, Ouma! Some assistance, maybe?" The voice of a certain blonde woman could be heard coming from his ear-piece. It was the very same person who owned the building he was standing on. The woman who had betrayed him all these years ago by joining Da'ath, only to be an ally again once he had done the same.

"Souta, help out Arisa by taking out the enemy directly in front of her. That should buy her enough time to retreat and regroup." Was all he said in return.

"Got it. Let's move out, guys!" Came his old friend's voice in return, obeying his command without question. Of course he would, having had a small crush on the blonde princess for ages now. The sole prospect of rushing in and saving her like a hero was probably exciting him. A simpleton to the very end. But that was fine. You didn't have to be smart to be a good man.

From his position, he saw Souta's squad rush in from the flank, gunning down the enemy that had harassed Arisa until now. Said blonde immediately used the opportunity to retreat.

"Alright! Arisa's safe, Shu! But now we are in kind of a tight spot! The enemy is surrounding us! What's the plan?"

The king closed his eyes in shame and sadness and looked away.

"I'm sorry, Souta."

"Shu? Your orders? Come on, man! Don't leave me hanging here!" His friend's voice reached him with its desperation clearly audible. He saw Souta and his squad getting surrounded by enemies like he had predicted them to. There was no way to get them out of that situation alive. They were dead meat. The enemy rushed in to claim their prize.

"Damniiiiiit!" Was the last thing the king heard from Souta. He saw them open fire at their enemies, but soon getting overwhelmed nonetheless. An armored Humvee drove them by, having a gunner shoot them down with the machine gun mounted on the vehicle's back. No survivors.

"Oh my god…he's dead!" He could hear Arisa whisper into the com link. "You let him die, Ouma!"

"Yes, I gave his life for yours. Would you have liked it to be the other way around?"

"How can you be so calm? Wasn't he your friend?" She yelled at him angrily.

"Of course he was. As were the people we are fighting today. This is the price we pay for the things we want to gain, Arisa. Or have you forgotten?" He heard the woman growl in disagreement, yet couldn't find the words to tell him he was wrong. Of course she couldn't, for Shu knew he was right.

"Daryl, there is an Endlave heading your way. Finish it." Were his next orders.

"To see the day that I would actually have to follow your orders, void bastard…" He heard the voice of the blonde Endlave pilot grumble at him angrily.

"You are free to disobey, but I don't think you will live on for much longer without the support of Da'ath. That void genome emulator in your chest is bound to give out on you sooner or later if they don't fix it for you."

"Shut up, I get it already. Moving out!" He saw a giant white Endlave unit charge out into the battlefield, crashing recklessly into the incoming enemy Endlave and overwhelming it through sheer force alone. The enemy got knocked over and had its head blown off in a matter of seconds by Daryl's gun.

"Pah, amateur pilots!" Was all Daryl had to say after that.

"Adam, the situation is becoming quite critical out here. How is the status of your sister? Has her soul finally materialized?" Yuu suddenly wanted to know. The king allowed himself to throw a glance over his shoulder where he saw a ghostly image of his late sister manifest in the bud of a crystal rose. She was barely visible, floating in a fetal position with her eyes halfway closed. He was told her soul would be completely summoned if her eyes opened fully, but no second earlier. He could only assume it into his void arm and flee the scene once that happened.

"Not yet. Her eyes are still only halfway opened." He said into the radio with a disappointed shake of the head. He heard Yuu curse under his breath.

"This is bad. If she takes any longer, we might actually not get out of this alive…"

"Great. First I get told I will die because of this damn thing they planted into my body three years ago, and now I will die anyway because some dude's stupid sister thinks taking a nap is a bit more important!" They could hear Daryl retort grumpily.

"Not that a genocidal brat like you would have any rights to complain about dying…" Haruka's bitter voice could be heard, making the king chuckle. She didn't seem to like Daryl any more than he did.

"I swear, one day I am going to kill you all…" The former GHQ officer grumbled in annoyance, only to have Shu sigh in frustration.

"Focus, Daryl. The fight's still going on." An explosion could suddenly be heard coming from inside the building.

"Shu, they have infiltrated the building! They are heading this way!" His mother informed him, sounding slightly nervous.

"Yuu, intercept them." Were the king's orders.

"Oh, so it's fine to use the envoy to save your mother…" Arisa told him off accusingly, obviously referring to the time he had sacrificed Souta.

"Haruka's squad manages the pods our Endlave pilots use. If the enemy seizes the room, we will lose all our Endlaves." That were all the words he needed to justify his decision and make the blond princess shut up.

"Speaking of pilots, here comes the queen of pilots. Shinomiya Ayase, you are mine!" Daryl could suddenly be heard yelling into the com link. "Oh, how long I have waited for this!"

Shu took a closer look and saw what Daryl was referring to. A pitch black Endlave was closing in on him in high speed. He wasn't all that knowledgeable about Endlaves, but even he could tell that it had been one of the better models. There was nothing to indicate it was really Ayase's, but the king assumed Daryl must have had a way of knowing which he hadn't. There was no reason to assume he was lying.

"Don't take her lightly, Daryl. You will die." He decided to warn him as he saw their Endlaves clash.

"Die? Don't screw with me…I am Daryl motherfucking Yan. I will teach that bitch a lesson for stealing my prized Steiner all these years ago!"

The brunette king watched from above as both Endlaves tried to get the upper hand in their struggle. After a short tuck-of-war between them, Daryl's bigger Endlave managed to overpower Ayase's and pushed her back on her back, followed by aiming his gun at her, only to be surprised to see Ayase doing the same after rolling off of the ground. Both shot at the same time, but Daryl activated his void genome emulator to make use of his own void's power to create a kaleidoscope shield around him. Ayase's bullets bounced off, while Daryl's made contact with her Endlave's armor. Exciting laughter could be heard coming from Daryl.

"That's right, filthy terrorist! You don't stand a chance against me!"

Shu couldn't help but feel actually impressed with Daryl's skills. Ayase had been the best pilot he had ever known. To stand his ground against her was actually quite an achievement. That was until he could hear him yell:

"Huh, wait, what's going on? Why are there cutesy animals on my fucking interface? Get that shit outta my face!"

While the king was wondering what that was all about with a raised eyebrow, he saw Ayase closing in on him and aiming her gun directly at his Endlave's head. Then she shot from point blank, ensuring the maximum amount of damage.

"Graaaargh! Fuck, what's going on? My controls aren't working! I need an emergency bailout right now!" His pained voice shouted loudly into his ear, making him slightly flinch. However, the bailout didn't happen and Ayase continued her onslaught against the defenseless Daryl by emptying her clip on him completely, making him scream in agony.

"You useless pieces of shit! Where is that bailout? I swear to god, if I get out of this alive, I will murder every singl-" He suddenly got interrupted by a new voice. Shu immediately recognized it as Tsugumi's, making his eyes widen for a second in surprise.

"You will kill no one anymore, Kill-them-all Daryl." She said angrily.

"That voice…I know it…Runt!" Daryl seemed to have recognized her as well. "So this has been your doing!"

"Yep. I'm afraid this is farewell, sprout."

"No, runt. I will be waiting for you down there in hell. I will wait there for ALL of you." Were the Endlave pilot's last words before his war machine started spewing sparks. Ayase was seen taking a few steps back before the colossal steel machine caught fire and soon after exploded. Once Darly had been out of the way, Shu could see Ayase's Endlave look up at him as if telling him that she would be coming for him next. He met her machine's gaze coldly, without losing his calm.

"I've seized control of their security measures and Endlaves, Aya-nee. Your path should be clear from now on!" Tsugumi yelled into his ear, though obviously not at him but Ayase. Said pilot immediately replied with a confident:

"Good job, Tsugumi! I am going in now."

"Arisa, don't let her trough." The king merely ordered, only to see said woman running away into the opposite direction. "What are you doing, Arisa?" He wanted to know with an angry frown on his face.

"Screw you, Ouma! I am not dying for you! I should have known this wouldn't work with you in charge! I am outta here."

The king watched her throw away her earpiece and vanishing into a manhole in the ground. And with that, she was simply gone.

"Tch, coward. Why am I not surprised…?" Shu mumbled to no one but himself. Without Arisa's support, Ayase's Endlave could reach the building effortlessly, followed by her starting to climb it soon afterwards.

"She made the only right choice there, Shu. You should just surrender as well." Tsugumi told him, voice full of hostility.

"You made a terrible mistake when you came here, Tsugumi." Was all Shu told her in response.

"Nice try, Shu. But you have already lost. I won't hand back your command center and Aya-nee is already...kuh…wha…?" The dark haired woman's voice suddenly died off midsentence, causing Ayase to worry.

"Tsugumi? Tsugumi, what's wrong? What happened?"

It didn't take long for a voice to respond to her question. Though not Tsugumi's one, but the envoy's instead, letting Ayase's blood run cold from shock.

"I've bad news, Adam. I was too late. The command center has already been compromised. Everyone is dead."

"My mother?" Shu wanted to know, only to know the answer from the silence Yuu offered him. He gritted his teeth as he pressed his eyes shut, trying to prevent tears from forming there. "Damnit!" He cursed.

"From the way it looks like, they offered the enemy quite a fight. There are bullet holes everywhere. The Endlave pilots are all dead, too, including Mr. Yan. A hacker was messing around with the mainframe, but I stopped her."

"What….what did you do to her, you bastard!" Ayase's furious voice could be heard right then and there.

Yuu decided to ignore the question without a second thought. "Hm, it seems the hacker was able to establish a link with the enemy. Should I cut it?"

"Yeah." They heard Ayase object for a second, before she was kicked out of the conversation. Once he was sure Ayase couldn't hear them anymore, he continued: "What's the status of the hacker? Did you kill her?" The king asked calmly.

The envoy chuckled at that. Shu could almost see him shrug in indifference, too. "I did. Was I not supposed to?"

"I see…no, it's alright. I thought we could have used her as a hostage, but that doesn't matter anymore. Come up here to the roof. We need to hold our ground until Mana's soul has materialized completely or everyone would have died for nothing."

"I am afraid I won't be making it in time, Adam. There are more and more enemies swarming the building. They are in the way. Is Eve still not summoned, yet?"

Shu took a glance at Mana and saw that, although her eyes were slightly more open now, she was still not fully "awake" yet.

"No, she will likely not wake up in time." He told the envoy regretfully.

"…Damn, then the mission is a failure. Is there any way for you to escape?"

Shu merely offered him a weak chuckle. "Hardly, unless you count jumping off the eighth floor."

"What a shame. Then I suppose this is where we part ways, Adam. For all that its worth, I truly am sorry. I really meant to see the world you would have created, but I guess it wasn't meant to be."

"It would appear that way…" The king admitted with a disappointed sigh. "Take care, Yuu. Though I never managed to overcome my hatred for you, I am still grateful for the hope you gave me in the end."

"It's a shame we never got to see eye to eye with each other. I believe we could have come a long way if that had been the case from the start. I know you suspected me of lying, but I always told you the truth. It would have been possible. May you find peace with that thought at least. Farewell."

And with that, the line was terminated. The brunette man removed the now useless earpiece and threw it away, allowing his gaze to wander over the horizon where he still saw nothing but flames and destruction. His horrible work, and now apparently all for nothing, too. Just why the hell had he even tried so hard?

A gust of wind blew past him, making him bury his face into the scarf he was wearing as he closed his eyes, deep in thought. Well, what a stupid question. He knew exactly what had driven him to go this far. Hope for a better future…and the willingness to bring hell first to live in heaven afterwards. A naïve thought, he realized. One who raised hell would only ever be allowed to live in hell. There was no heaven for him anywhere in this world. There never would be. Which left him with only one solution.

Behind him, he heard Ayase's heavy war machine climb on top of the roof. He didn't turn around, but looked at her from the corner of his eyes.

That's right. For people like him, there was only one way out of this. And that was to receive their just reward.

Death.

"So this is as far as I'll come, huh." He said with a deep sigh and closed eyes.

"That's right, Shu! It's over. Give up." He could hear Ayase's voice coming from the robot's speakers. A regretful smile appeared on his lips as he turned towards her.

"You make it sound as if it actually mattered if I surrendered or not."

"You will get a fair trial to determine the punishment for your crimes."

The king only chuckled amusedly and looked back at the fallen city.

"What a waste of time. We both know how that would end." His expression became serious as he looked into the flames, letting them reflect in his eyes. "She's dead you know? Tsugumi. My mother, too. Everyone. I killed them all."

He could see Ayase tensing up upon hearing of Tsugumi's death.

"Why….why did you have to become this way? Everyone was so proud of you. Everyone respected you. Why did you throw it all away? I don't understand at all!" She sounded really upset. He wouldn't be surprised if she was close to crying.

He looked at Ayase for a short while before walking over to Mana's ghostly figure, still far from being fully materialized. A sad smile appeared on his lips.

"Three years ago I stood at your very same spot, asking myself the very same question. Gai had erased Inori and turned against everyone. He threw all of it away, just for the mere chance to be with this woman here. At first I didn't understand, either. How could a man do all that just for one woman? It had been madness. It wasn't until I was forced to live in a world without Inori, that I finally understood how cold the world could actually be, how big the hole in my heart could actually become and how much more the pain from it would grow. Things like respect and pride quickly lose their worth in situations like that, so you will soon come to a point in which you will readily throw it all away again for just a chance to get back the woman you loved. And once you get it, that single ray of hope is all that is needed to keep you going."

"You idiot! Do you think Inori would have wanted any of this?" The Endlave pilot yelled at him, causing him to shrug helplessly as he turned around to her.

"Probably not. But then again, I never asked for her to die in my place, either. Love makes you selfish. Just as I selfishly decided to destroy everything as long as it would bring her back."

"Well, was it worth it? Everyone who cared about you is either dead or out to kill you! Are you happy? Is that what you wished for?" Yep, Shu was sure. She was definitely crying now. He felt sorry for that.

"No, it wasn't what I wished for, but I still have no regrets."

"Then why are you crying?" She wanted to know. Indeed, tears were traveling down the king's cheeks by now as well.

"Because I have no regrets." He pointed towards the burning city with a saddened smile on his lips. "Look what I did. Look how many people I killed. Friends. Family. I loved them, I really did. But if given the chance to go back in time, I would have done it all over again simply out of hope of finding a way to actually succeed the next time around. For living with that small glimmer of hope was way better than the prospect of living the rest of my life utterly hopeless."

"You can't be serious! Tell me you are lying!" Ayase's robot shook its head and looked down in disappointment. "Tell me this is not the Shu I knew and respected!"

But the brunette man only shook his head slowly as well. "No, Ayase. This is me. I've never told anyone about this, but before Inori died, she was afraid of becoming a monster. Made a vessel for my crazy sister, she was meant to be nothing more but a tool for destruction. But she proved herself wrong when she fought Mana and won. She had never been a monster. No, in the end, it turned out that the actual monster had been me all along. I can understand her fears now better than ever. It's scary. To slowly see what you are turning into, unable to make it stop. The darkness in your heart simply grows and consumes you whole, until there is nothing left of your identity anymore. Only a monster without a name."

"…I won't accept this. I won't let you turn into a monster. If I have to, I will kill you now while you are still human. While I still can view you as human. I want to remember you as the man you had once been rather than the monster you are turning into. That's why…"

Her robot stormed forward while yelling the last bit, grabbing Shu with its huge metallic hand.

"With these hands, I will…I will…!" Her voice broke as she cried now without holding back. Shu only offered her an encouraging smile.

"Do it, Ayase. It's better that way. For everyone."

"Why…why must you always be such an idiot! I cared for you. We all did! If the world had been so unbearable for you, why didn't you simply say so? We would have helped you!"

Her grip became stronger, causing Shu to grimace slightly.

"And even now when you are about to die, you don't even ask for mercy. Until the very end, you refuse to take every bit of help someone could have offered you. Why, Shu? Why do you always wish to carry the burden on your own?"

Her mechanic grip began crushing him. Bones started to break and he coughed up blood. He couldn't answer anymore, but his eyes still looked at her, telling her to keep going, further enraging her.

"Why….? Shuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"

The sound of her cry faded alongside the pain as he felt his life getting squeezed out of him. So this was to be his end, he realized with his vision fading into black. Now there was nothing anymore. Death finally embraced him and he welcomed it. He had deserved it.

Yes, it truly was for the best this way.

"Shu. Hey, Shu. You listening?" Ayase's voice brought him out of his thoughts at last. Amidst the darkness, he asked:

"Hm?"

"I said: Queen to B2. Checkmate. I win." He could hear her say with a faint trace of pride audible in her voice. She was probably grinning right now, too.

That was also the moment he was starting to hear the noises of their surroundings again. Gone were the explosions, the smell of burning flesh and the horrifying cries of death. All of it suddenly replaced by the sound of singing birds in the trees, kids playing on the playground not that far away from them and a dog barking happily as its owner was taking it for a walk…a reminder that he and Ayase were still in the park, sitting at a table with a chessboard lying between them. His mind told him that there should only be three pieces left on that board. His king piece and Ayase's king and queen piece. His piece was pushed against a corner, with Ayase's king and queen keeping him trapped there. Indeed, it was checkmate. He offered her a small smile.

"You are right, good job. It's your win." He could almost imagine her grinning happily at him right now while rising up her chin proudly.

"I appreciated your willingness to show mercy on a beginner like me, but I told you from the start that you starting without a queen would be too big of a handicap. I am not THAT bad at this game."

Shu merely chuckled at her antics. "No, you obviously aren't."

"No use saying you were holding back now, you know. You haven't spoken a single word since we started the match, always looking dead serious and deep in thought. I just know you were really trying hard just now." She told him teasingly.

"I certainly did try…" He replied thoughtfully and looked away with a sad smile. "Not even in my own fantasy can I win, huh…" Maybe he just didn't have it in him to be a real villain. Or maybe that was just his excuse to keep believing he was still not that bad a person as he thought he was deep down.

"What do you mean?" Ayase asked him confusedly. Crap, had he said that out aloud? Idiot.

"Huh? Oh, no. It's nothing, nevermind." He tried to brush the matter off. Unfortunately, he could still sense her analyzing look resting on him. God knows how he could actually tell that without seeing it for himself.

"Come to think of it, when we started, you were pretty adamant to have that no-queen-handicap of yours, even if I told you I would have been fine with even just one missing rook, bishop or knight. What was up with that?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to give you a fair advantage, even though I might have given you a slightly too big one in hindsight." He told her with a small grin.

She narrowed her eyes on him. "You know, it really sucks for you, but even though your eyes may be blind, they still tell me exactly whether you are lying or not."

"Tch…would be my luck, alright. Useless eyes." He cursed under his breath.

"So, are you telling me what this was all about or do I have to beat it out of you?" Said the woman in her wheelchair, letting her knuckles click in anticipation for the beating she would undoubtedly give him. The sound alone made him tense up.

"Alright already. I was conducting a thought experiment." He told her with a defeated sigh, immediately getting her interests up like with a young child.

"Ooooh, what's that?"

"Basically a simulation you run in your mind, usually revolving around a certain theory or question." He explained to her patiently. He somehow already knew she would react to that with a frown.

"What's that good for? Isn't that basically letting your fantasy run wild?"

"Hm, sort of. You still try to make it as realistic as possible to get the most likely answer to your question."

"I see. So what was the question?" She wanted to know.

"Yeah, I am not telling you that." He denied her query with a soft smile. He didn't have to tell her everything, nor did he want to for that matter. The brunette woman merely narrowed her eyes on him in displeasure.

"Come on, don't be like that. I always tell you the full story, too."

He sighed at her. Yeah, she really did, but it wasn't as if he had particularly asked her to whenever she did. This woman in front of him really liked to talk, and so she talked a lot. It's not that he didn't like to listen to her stories, no…he actually very much enjoyed them…it was just that they were far too detailed sometimes, making him wish she would have just left the unnecessary pieces of information to herself.

"Maybe, but I don't. It's not as interesting as you might think, anyway. I am a blind guy, I just spend most of my time thinking about stuff."

"Yeah, and I am a fair lady who would like to know what's going on in the head of a certain man that often shares her company. I am always doing most of the talking when we spend time together. Sometimes, it's hard to tell what you are thinking about." She told him while letting her head rest against her hand, clearly unimpressed by his lame excuses.

"Why are my thoughts so important to you?" He wondered while scratching his head. Wouldn't people normally don't give two fucks about what others thought? The brunette woman blushed slightly while fiddling around with her fingers awkwardly.

"No reason. It's just, you know, wondering what your friends are currently thinking?"

"Huh, I don't think I ever cared about what Yahiro or Souta thought most of the time." Why would he have? It would have likely just been stuff that wouldn't have interested him anyway and if it had, he was sure they would have mentioned it to him by themselves.

"Urgh, nevermind. You aren't that hard to read, so maybe I can guess." Ayase decided to change the subject in frustration. Her eyes fell on the chess board.

"It had to do with chess, right? So, a battle, maybe? You didn't want to have a queen, which means not having one was an important part of your experiment…hmmm…" She brought her right hand up to her chin and closed her eyes in thought. That was until an unpleasant thought occurred to her, immediately making her frown at him.

"It couldn't be…Inori?"

A soft chuckle escaped his lips as he shrugged helplessly. "Either I really am that easy to read or you are really sharp. You are right, though." He admitted defeat.

"I am pretty sure it's both…" Ayase told him with a deep sigh. "Shu, it's been three years…"

"It could be fifty for all it mattered. It wouldn't become any easier." He cut into her attempt at talking sense into him with gritted teeth, forcing her to give up on it reluctantly. If he was like this, no amount of words could change it. She still felt like they needed to talk about this, though. A determined look formed itself in her eyes. Fine, if she couldn't have it her way, let them do it his way. She would play along. For now

"So you simulated the last fight against GHQ? To think of ways it would have been possible to save her?" She allowed herself to assume, only to have him shake his head at her slowly with a weak smile.

"No…I'll admit, though, that I did that for the first few months after her death. What for, I don't even know anymore. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, wanting to live in a fantasy in which I hadn't failed. Or trying to find excuses about how it had been impossible from the start. That nothing I could have done would have changed the end result. A pitiful attempt at trying to ease the pain of guilt that gnawed on my heart. Eventually, I stopped, though, realizing that it was but a mere waste of time simulating the past over and over again. It couldn't be changed, no matter what you wished for. So, instead I began conducting thought experiments about other things…"

Ayase lifted a brow and leaned forward, mildly curios. "Such as?"

"At first, the possibility of revival. After reading every bit of literature about the matter, I took into account all possibilities I could think of, not even hesitating to consider absurd methods such as magic and the act of performing wonders told about in religion. The conclusion was that it wouldn't be impossible, seeing as to how Gai came back once, and my sister as well. However, the chances of me ever running into a situation in which I would find out how to perform such miracles would be insignificantly minimal." He explained to her with a raised finger.

"So your next experiment was to find out how to improve your chances of obtaining that ability?"

"No, I already knew that there was only one way to find a clue about it. Which was to get into contact with the people who performed a revival before."

She frowned at him. "But GHQ is gone." Shu nodded in agreement.

"Exactly. So there was no reliable possibility of me ever finding out how they did it. I was forced to abandon that train of thought, deciding to pursue another." He formed a bridge with both his hands right in front of him and allowed his head to lean against it, the look in his eyes completely serious, despite the fact that they were blind.

"Disregarding the chance of me ever obtaining the necessary knowledge regarding the ability of revival, there is another question I had to ask myself. Assuming I would get into a position in which I would actually be able to use it, how far would I be willing to go in order to do so? Where would the point lie in which I would have to tell myself that I was going too far, even if it meant fulfilling my greatest wish. There was bound to be something I wouldn't be ready to do no matter what, right?"

She caught herself gulping at that, realizing how serious the atmosphere around them had gotten all of a sudden. So these were the heavy thoughts that had lingered around in Shu's head? She would have never thought with the carefree smile he had always offered her. Maybe he hadn't been as easy to read as she would have thought.

"So, was this chess game supposed to be a means to determine the answer to that question?" She asked him seriously, causing him to lean back and sigh tiredly.

"Not quite. I already knew the answer from an earlier experiment. What I didn't know was the outcome. What would happen if you put the me who knew exactly where his limits lied into a situation in which he could actually stand a chance to achieve his goal? How far would I come? What consequences would my actions bring with them? I was curious." He closed his eyes as if thinking back on the answer he must have received by now. Ayase was surprised to admit that she couldn't quite tell if he was happy or not with it. All she could say for sure is that he looked troubled…all the more reason for her to want to know the answer as well.

"So, what happened? How far did you go? What was your limit?"

Strangely enough, Shu offered her a quiet chuckle. She had known that these could sound happy, amused, mocking, even sarcastic…but never before had she heard a so hurting one like the one he was giving her right now. The pain visible in his empty eyes made it quite obvious to her, that even he himself had been shocked about the answers to her questions. He had the look of someone who had learned of something he should have never learned the answer to.

"The answers to these questions are all in front of you, Ayase. Look at the board. Remember how it had looked like in the beginning of the game. Then compare it with what you see now. How far I would go? How things would end?" He leaned forward and put his hand where he assumed his king piece still stood. A dark smile formed itself on his lips as he proceeded to knock the piece over with his finger.

"This, is your answer."

Her eyes opened up wide once she realized what he meant. "Wait, you mean…?"

"Not what you would have thought, huh? Me neither." He replied, his smile becoming quite sad as he looked down in shame. "They say to truly tell a man's worth, one was required to give him power and see how he would use it. I wanted to know my worth. To see just how far I would come under the most ideal circumstances. Just what would happen if you gave a man like me who was willing to sacrifice everything the means to do so? Would he succeed? Would he fail? And regardless of that, what would be left of the world after the battle was over? The results were…downright terrifying."

"So all these pieces were…?" The brunette woman couldn't help but ask in shock, only to see him nod slowly, followed by picking up some of the discarded pieces next to the board. He placed down a pawn, rook, knight and bishop.

"Souta, Arisa, Daryl Yan, mother. I played them all like the pieces they represented, discarding them left and right like it was nothing. They weren't the only ones, of course…"

"So….they all died?" She wanted to know, still looking at him in utter disbelief. Shu didn't reply and only faced away from her with closed eyes, visibly tormented by this all. Ayase bit on her lower lip once she saw that. She wanted to say something to lift his spirits, but this whole thing kind of came out of nowhere. She would have never thought their innocent little match had secretly been an experiment to judge his humanity. And thus, due to lack of words, they were embraced by an awkward silence.

It hung around them for a short while until the brunette woman couldn't bear with it anymore. She decided that anything would be fine if only this dreadful quietness would just disappear. And so she asked:

"Which piece was me?"

The fallen king's eyes opened up in surprise. That was not a question he had expected next out of her mouth, yet obviously wasn't one he didn't like since he responded with a kind smile:

"The one you used to checkmate me with."

This time it was Ayase's turn to be surprised. "The black queen? I wasn't on your side?"

"I was interested in the most optimistic outcome, so I used the most optimal scenario for myself to use in the match just now, spending many hours thinking of all the possible starting situations there could have been. There were some constants like my mother or the envoy of Da'ath who would always side with me, and there were variables like Souta and Yahiro who would or wouldn't fight for my side depending on my previous actions. In some scenarios I had Arisa support you guys, while there were others in which I could even have recruited Tsugumi or Argo into my ranks. It didn't matter, though, how many scenarios I came up with. There existed not a single one in which you would join me." He explained to her, almost sounding proud of her.

"But why?" She wanted to know. It didn't really make sense to her. She had absolutely no desire to fight him. He only shrugged at her, still smiling.

"Have you forgotten already? I told you once. It's because you are perfect."

"H-huh?" She couldn't stop the blush from spreading all over her face. This again? Thank god for his blindness. She was absolutely positive that she looked ridiculous right about now. If Tsugumi was here, she would have never heard the end of her teasing.

"You are like a pure diamond. Untainted. There is not a single thing I could do to make you an accomplice in ending the world. You would always try to stop me. Not because of hatred or anger, but because of your desire to protect others from impurity. Don't believe me? Let's say I asked you to take my hand and stand at my side while I end the world. Imagine I would offer you whatever it is you most desire, regardless if I could realistically give it to you or not. Let's just assume I could. Money, power, the ability to make you walk again, to resurrect anyone of your choosing, really. You can have anything you want. What would your answer be?" He asked her with a confident smirk, causing her to be taken aback, blinking at him in confusion.

She decided to humor him, though, starting to imagine herself in her most desirable position. In her mind, she saw herself standing proud and strong on her own legs. Behind her, a beautiful customized Endlave unit was placed, having her name engraved on it. She wore the SDF's uniform and saluted while the prime minister put a huge, shiny medal on her chest, followed by applauding her as he stepped away. In front of her, a huge crowd of people joined in on the applauding. Dozens of flashes from cameras almost blinded her as the military orchestra played the national anthem for her. And that wasn't even all. In the first row, all her friends stood, cheering for her happily. One of them was Shu, who had a little girl of maybe five years sitting on his shoulders, waving excitedly at her, her mother. Ayase smiled back at her and Shu, who wore a ring on his right ring finger. Just like her. Husband and wife. A family.

She gasped and shook her head quickly and with closed eyes to get these pictures out of her mind again. What the hell was she thinking? Stupid brain. So embarrassing.

Still, she realized with now narrowed eyes, that _had_ been quite a nice future. She sure as hell wouldn't mind calling it her own one day. All of it. Even the embarrassing part. She couldn't help but sport a small smile in defeat.

But enough of that for now. Imagining all that was only half of the task Shu had given her. There was still the other one. The hypothetical price for that future would be to join Shu on his quest to destroy the world. Would she be able to do that?

She imagined standing at his side as he would kill dozens of innocent people, setting out in her Endlave to kill the ones willing to stand up and protect them. She would have to watch him destroy everything he cared about step by step, slowly killing himself in the process. The sheer thought of that alone broke her heart. To see Shu self-destruct like that, even if he believed he did it for a higher cause, would kill her as well.

No, even if he disagreed with her, even if he couldn't see what she could, even if she stood at risk of fighting him to make him understand, she would try to stop him. It wasn't that she didn't want to see him happy, but rather the exact opposite of that. She just knew that this chosen path of his wouldn't be the way to happiness, but would only ruin him instead. That's why she couldn't allow him to take it. Her own happiness was not worth more than his.

"I would reject the offer and stop you with all my might, even if it killed me." She thus replied truthfully, though not without a bit of surprise about it hidden somewhere in her voice. It caused him to nod in satisfaction.

"See? Just like I have said. It's impossible to corrupt you. People like you are very rare and way too good for this world."

She looked away in embarrassment, unable to prove him wrong. Still, she would accept him selling himself shorter than he was. He may have thought she was too good for the world, but without him, there wouldn't even be a world to live in anymore. Was that worth nothing?

"You say that, but aren't you the same? You were willing to take the world's impurity upon yourself so that everyone else could live without it. Isn't that the reason you are suffering so much now?"

He could only frown at that. "I was only willing to do that because I had no plans of surviving in the first place."

"Does that make your actions any less noble? Whether you were planning to live on with the impurity or not doesn't change the fact that you had taken it upon you regardless. You didn't need to. You could have simply chosen to die without doing anything of that sort. The fact that you did, proves your worth as a human being. There were no bad intentions hidden in that action, only kindness."

For the first time during their conversation, it seemed like Shu was actually speechless for a short while, making her grin in pride. That meant she had made a point he couldn't refute just now. Excellent.

"Maybe, but that doesn't change the fact that I would be willing to make it all undone if given the chance." He told her bitterly, but she only shrugged his words off with an unimpressed expression on her face.

"Honestly, I would be surprised if you weren't. All that negativity you absorbed that day must have affected you somehow. But that's not that big of a deal, is it? All we need to do is make sure it stays locked away deep inside you, never to come up to the surface again. I know you are strong enough to do that. And if you ever have trouble with it, we, your friends, will be there for you. You are not alone, Shu. Even if you may think so at times."

"Heh, that's just because they can't see what horrible darkness lies inside my heart."

A determined look formed itself on the brunette woman's face. "You just told me. And here I still am."

"That you are." He chuckled again. "Guess I can always count on you to help me out. Whether if it is trying to make me see my remaining humanity by talking sense into me, or if it's trying to protect it by crushing me with an Endlave before the last of it is devoured by my inner demons."

She backed away in horror once she heard his words. "I wouldn't ever…!"

"You would. And it's fine. If it ever happened, I would have deserved it." He cut her off with a gentle smile.

"Shu…" Ayase couldn't quite find words for that, so she merely looked away in sadness. Just what the hell happened in that little experiment of his? What horrible scenarios had he come up with for the sake of bringing back his lost love? Her gaze fell on his unused queen piece that rested next to the chess board. "Inori sure was lucky…" She couldn't help but think out aloud. To have been loved so much that she was still thought about even three years after her death.

"Was she? I wouldn't be so sure about that." She winced once she heard him say that in disagreement. Crap, she hadn't meant to say that out aloud. "Running into this good-for-nothing brat and despite all odds, actually falling in love with him. Then getting dragged down by the sins he committed and forced to pay for them in his stead. She didn't deserve any of that. She deserved to live most of all. I was meant to give her happiness, yet all I brought her was misery."

Somehow, she felt her anger rise up from deep inside her once she had heard him say all that. "What a load of horse shit, Shu." He offered her a raised brow at that, so she continued:

"I may not have known her long, but before she met you, she was like an empty being. I had not known of her past, but I could easily tell that it mustn't have been a normal one. She never spoke unless asked to and she never did anything unless she was told to do so. It took us ages to get through to her…the day she actually started singing was the day everyone in Funeral Parlor dropped whatever it had been they were doing at the time to watch her sing in disbelief. That's how shocked we all were. It got better from there, sure, but it was a long and tiresome process. And then came you. And suddenly this fragile, empty girl gradually came to life. She became curious about the world and its surroundings, started to develop a mind of her own that even went as far as to disobey direct orders, heck, she even began smiling…and a genuine smile at that. Not the fake ones we had taught her, but real ones. She was happy. I think it is safe to assume that in this short while in which she had known you, she had been the happiest she had ever been. And it was all thanks to you."

Shu only blinked at her in slight bewilderment. "I…I actually never knew. I mean, I kind of assumed that's what she must have been like before, but to think she only started to change this much after we met. Huh, who would have known?" He actually laughed a bit in embarrassment as he scratched the back of his head awkwardly, making Ayase sigh in relief. Seeing his dorky side was a welcome change from the heavy aura of seriousness that had clung to him for a while now.

"I guess we brought out the best in each other, then. I changed a lot because of her as well." He said with a nostalgic smile on his face.

"You sure did, mister " _I am more into cultural stuff_ "" She said teasingly and smirked once she noticed his mad blush.

"Give me a break. Not everyone is a born athlete."

"Well, I suppose it's alright, considering how you turned out in the end…" Ayase grinned with a carefree shrug, earning her a playful smirk from Shu who pulled back the sleeve of his right, robotic arm.

"Wanna test your strength against me in arm wrestling?"

"Don't get cocky on me. If we used our left hands, I would wipe the floor with you." She declared confidently, followed by pointing at her head with her right index finger. "You sure you are up for another shameful loss, after I have already beaten you in a battle of wits?"

Shu only rolled up his sleeve again, followed by waving her last remark off. "Pah, you would have never won if I had had my queen." He looked away, sadly. "Ironically enough, there wouldn't even have been a fight in the first place, had that been the case."

"Every king needs his queen, huh?" Ayase said with pity in her voice. Shu only nodded at that and sighed in regret.

"Yeah, chess is a good way to understand that. The reason I like it so much is because it is so easy for me to relate to it. In this game, nothing hurts you as much as losing your queen."

"Seems like we are both stuck in positions we never wanted to be in." The former Endlave pilot narrowed her eyes in disdain as she looked down on the chess board. "The king who lost his queen and the queen who has to fight her friend."

Shu uttered a sound of mild amusement as he asked: "What? Being queen isn't your most desired position? What would you rather be, then?"

Ayase eyed him for a moment as if considering something, then looked away for a second in an attempt to give up and dismiss the thought she just had…only to sport a determined look in the end. Her hand wandered to one of the various discarded chess pieces next to the board, grabbed the one she desired to be and put it into the fallen king's hands silently. Curiously, the man began feeling up the piece's form, only to raise a brow in confusion when he realized which one it represented.

"A pawn? Aren't you selling yourself quite a bit short on this one? There is no way someone would ever deploy you as a mere pawn. A woman of your caliber would be able to be everything she wanted to be. At the very least, you should probably be a knight, wouldn't you agree?" He tried to reason with her, but the woman in front of him would only shake her head on him.

"Being a knight would serve me no purpose. It may be stronger, but it doesn't possess the ability I desire the most." She explained to him seriously and watched him pondering her words with a slightly tilted head.

An ability she most desired? What could a pawn do which a knight could not? Walk on its own feet? A knight would only always sit on his horse's back, so maybe that was what she meant? Or maybe to fight her own battles rather than using others to fight, like all the other pieces likely would? Hmm, he had the feeling that wasn't quite it.

When she saw him struggle with the answer, she took the pawn from him and put another piece in his hand.

"It's the only piece that can become this one upon promotion." She told him, only to confuse him even more once he recognized the new shape.

"Yeah, but…I don't understand. Didn't you say you wanted to be something else? Isn't this the queen?"

"It is. The white one."

Shu's expression right then and there was a rather interesting one to behold. At first, more confusion, then his eyes were seen wandering to the left upper corner, obviously processing her words. He frowned, then opened up his eyes wide in realization, only to narrow them down with a faint shade of red spreading all over his face.

"I see…it's not that easy, though. The path to the other end of the board is a long and tiresome one. It might not be worth the trouble." He told her while shaking his head slowly.

"I am willing to take my chances." She declared, unwavering.

"Are you sure? A pawn may be able to become a queen, but even then will it not truly be able to replace her properly. To always stand in the shadow of your predecessor…it is not a fate I would wish upon anyone. Least of all you. You deserve better than that."

Ayase looked down with a sad smile. "I know I can't replace Inori…and nor do I want to. I understand that she will always have a special spot in your heart and that's fine. All I am hoping for is that I could have a place in there somewhere as well. Is that impossible?"

"I…don't know. I never considered the possibility, to be honest." Shu was seen scratching the back of his head awkwardly, followed by offering her a shrug. "I just assumed it would be like this from now on. Me. Alone. After all, I would have felt bad having someone at my side who loved me with all their heart when I would forever hold on to my feelings for Inori. It wouldn't be fair. Who would be willing to share my affection with a dead woman?"

Ayase frowned at him. "Love isn't a competition, Shu. There is no fixed amount of affection in you which you have to give out to others with the person who gets the most being your destined other. I mean, for _some_ it might be like that, but at least for me it's not. That's not how it works. If you love someone, you love them, and if you don't, you don't. It's simple as that. So what if you are still holding on to your feelings for Inori? Why would I be bothered by that? All that it would mean would be that I wasn't the only one you loved. But why should I care as long as I _do_ get loved? I am not greedy enough to wish I could hog it all for myself." She gave him her reasoning with a kind smile.

Shu could only blink at her, followed by sighing and shaking his head in defeat.

"You really are too pure for this world, Ayase. Do you not even feel jealousy?"

She couldn't help but raise a brow at that. "Why? Do you _want_ me to be jealous?"

"Of course not, but shouldn't _you_ want to be? With a mentality like that, you are bound to get hurt by others willing to exploit your radiating perfection. As someone who has held many hearts, trust me when I tell you that there would be many men who would take advantage of you, corrupting you in the process."

The brunette woman merely grinned at that, radiating confidence. "There is nothing to worry about. My standards are pretty high, so scum like that would have never even been allowed to come close enough to ever take advantage of me. And I don't think I have much to worry about that coming from you, either."

The blind man in front of her leaned back with an amused chuckle. "Hoh? Why is that? I might very well be the most tainted one of them all, as you know."

"That's just what you think. But do I really have to worry about getting used when you are a man that stays loyal to his love even years after her death? I get the feeling you would be the last guy on earth who would be playing with other women's feelings."

"You may have a point…" Shu reluctantly agreed, looking slightly embarrassed. "Still, you are smart and strong…and from the way I remember you, you are also quite the beauty. Someone like you could get anyone she wanted. Why go for someone like me instead?"

"Who's the one selling himself short now, huh?" She asked him teasingly with narrowed eyes and a smirk. "What a miserable woman I would be if even the man who saved the world was not worthy of my love, for I would be doomed to walk this planet in solitude forever." She told him quite over-dramatically, but returned to her serious self soon after.

"Seriously, though. A long time ago, I also asked myself why you were so popular with the ladies. I guessed Inori couldn't be helped since she was a special case from the start, but then there was also Hare, which made me start wondering what it was that made you so desirable in the first place. Well, the joke was on me, since I had already walked into the trap by the time I had decided to find out what was so special about you." She averted her gaze and started playing with her hair to distract herself from her embarrassment.

"I can't tell for sure anymore when exactly I started to like you, but I know I already understood what made you so lovable by the time we moved out to defeat Gai. You are a man so strong that he could save the world, yet you are also so fragile that one would fear you would break apart if not held together in some way or another. A walking contradiction. You are like a fire that shines the way for everyone around you, giving them hope. Your flames will protect everyone you hold dear by burning their enemies to a crisp, but in that also lies your biggest weakness. For like every fire, you burn with no regard for your own well-being, always giving your all and endangering yourself to burn out eventually. If we left you alone, you would simply burn beyond control, destroying everything around you…until there is nothing left of you anymore. That's why you always need someone to keep you in check, giving you a reason to burn while making sure you won't get to burn too much. While you protect everyone, everyone has to protect you as well."

Shu closed his eyes, deep in thought. A fire, huh? He had to admit, it sounded like him. Back in the days, before his life had become chaotic, his flame had been small, almost nonexistent. There hadn't been a reason for him to burn, until he met Inori and the Undertakers. And gradually they became the fuel that made him grow stronger. Then, when Hare died, his will to never let something like that to happen again made him consume everything he could get into his reach. He needed to become bigger and stronger to be able to protect everyone. And when Inori got captured, he had already become a bonfire, huge and hot. Nothing could have sniffed out his flame back then. Absolutely nothing. But…it hadn't been enough and the aftermath had cost him too much. The main source that had kept his fire going was gone and he immediately started shrinking again to nothing more but a pitiful torch, waiting in the shadows for something to ignite his fire back again. As he now knew, if he was given the chance, the world would burn, being used as fuel to make him get back his main reason to burn in the first place. He sighed. How accurate the analogy really was. Ayase understood him quite well, it seemed.

"So you want to be the reason my fire keeps burning?" He eventually asked her with a smile, causing her to nod shyly.

"Yeah. You shine so warm and brightly. I want to see that light again."

"Even though I might burn you?"

"I am confident you won't. I trust you."

He shook his head slowly. "That might be a mistake."

She frowned at that. "Why? Do you _want_ to burn me? Am I nothing more to you than a friend?"

"I…how should I know? I don't even know what I think of myself anymore…"

It was silent between them for a second, which made Shu a bit nervous.

"Listen, Ayase, I am sorry, but…" He started, but got interrupted.

"Imagine, Shu, how Inori was captured and you ventured forward to get her back." She asked of him with a serious expression.

"…why?"

"Just do it." She repeated calmly, so he obliged. "What would you do in order to get her back?"

"Haven't we covered this already?"

"I want to hear it again." Shu frowned at her in confusion. What was this all about? Was she some kinda masochist? Did she like hearing how much he loved another woman? He didn't get it at all.

"I would sacrifice the world and myself if needed to." He replied truthfully and with absolute confidence.

"Good." She nodded. "Now imagine the same scenario, but with your other friends this time. Take Yahiro, or Tsugumi. It doesn't matter. Would you be willing to do the same?"

His facial expression visibly darkened at the thought. "They aren't next to me right now to hear the answer, right?" There was a bit of nervousness added to his voice.

"No, Shu. We are all by ourselves, so be honest. I won't tell them, either. I promise."

He looked away in shame and replied bitterly: "No, I wouldn't. I would try to save them, but I wouldn't be willing to die for them. I am not that noble a man."

"That's fine, Shu. Most people wouldn't even try to save them. I am sure they would understand." She tried to comfort him, but he could only offer her a look of sadness.

"Why are we doing this?" He wanted to know. It wasn't as if he already doubted his humanity enough as it was. To make him realize how little he would do for his friends compared to what he would be doing for Inori, wasn't helping him much in that regard.

"Now, imagine it was me. Would your answer change?" She then asked with seriousness in her eyes. If one looked closely, they would also spot a bit of hope in them as well.

Shu couldn't help but get taken aback by this. In his mind, he put Ayase into the sport she had asked him to put her and he found himself troubled with finding the answer to her question. Answering the previous two had been rather straightforward, but when he thought the answer wouldn't change from the previous one, something inside him made him hesitate. Confused as he was, he tried to give the answer more thought. How important was she to him? How much could he not afford losing her? If his friends would die, he would be devastated, but he would be able to go on…somehow. When Inori died, he thought his world had died with her. Where was Ayase in all this?

Ayase was his friend, but from all his friends, he liked her the most. By far. That was because she was so like him and yet so different. She understood his pain because she holds a similar one, but unlike him, she remained to stay positive, to stay pure. He admired her for it. He wanted to safeguard that purity. It was too valuable, too beautiful to be allowed to get lost. The world would become even bleaker if her shining radiance was to be lost. He realized he might actually want to end the world even more if that were to happen. His eyes opened up wide.

"I would…die for you as well." He told her while sounding more surprised than anything. It was as if he didn't understand his answer himself. Ayase for her part allowed herself to sigh in relief, a happy smile being present on her lips.

"Then that's all I need to know. I was right all along. You won't ever burn me."

"When…when did this happen…? I never noticed…" Shu still couldn't believe what he had just said, apparently.

"That's how love works, doesn't it? We don't intentionally fall for someone. It just happens. And you never notice it happening until it eventually did."

"Even though I wanted to stay loyal to Inori forever…" He said bitterly, sounding as if he was disappointed with himself. Ayase merely rolled her wheelchair to his side and took his hand gently, making him face her.

"Shu, remember what I said. No one is asking you to let her go. She is part of you and always will be. And that's good that way. She makes you what you are. And what you are is what I love."

"Are you really fine with this? I could never offer you as much as other men could."

"That's fine. Even if other would offer me more, they could never offer me you. And am I not the same? I can't be Inori…all I can be is me." She held his hand closely, suddenly worried he might pull away. He did, but with a kind smile, as he put away the queen piece he still held to take the pawn she had offered him earlier instead.

"You are right. You can't be my queen, for the position is already taken and will be forever, but if you are fine with this broken and foolish king, then would you give me the honor of joining my side as a pawn?" He asked of her while putting the white pawn from earlier into her hands.

Ayase then gleamed in happiness as she held the piece close to her heart as if it was a treasure.

"The honor is mine. I shall prove myself as the strongest pawn so that one day, you will promote me to a queen. I am confident that I will succeed." She said the last bit with a huge grin. He nodded at that.

"As am I. And so I am looking forward to that day with eagerness."

Following that conversation, they gathered their stuff and went home together. Where Ayase had assumed things to start awkward between them now that they were going out, she was soon to realize that nothing had really changed. It merely felt as if they had taken their friendship to the next level. A natural improvement. She was happy that it was like that. This way, they could both slowly get used to their relationship. She was sure it would turn out just like she had seen in her imagination earlier. No, she would make sure it would turn out that way. They both deserved to be happy, together.

When Shu had had the nerve to bring the good news of them being together by telling their friends that she had become, not his girlfriend, but his pawn, she almost wondered if she could really become happy with this huge dork while trying to hide her blushing face from everyone. But when she saw him laugh together with everyone, so happy and genuine for the first time in three long years…that's when she realized that she was just trying to fool herself. She would only be truly happy if he was too. She had done the right thing, after all.

It's been a long time.

It's been a long time, but now at long last, they had attained happiness.

They would never let go of it again.


	2. Long live the Queen!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of you might be surprised about this, given how "Mind Games" was stated to be a Oneshot and already marked as complete. And to be honest, it already was. However, inspiration struck me and I got a nice idea for a follow-up chapter telling the story of a certain king's brunette pawn and the hardships she has to overcome on her journey in order to attain her strongly desired promotion. Note that this is not the extra-fluff chapter I had talked about in the A/N at the end of the previous chapter. If you guys still want that one, feel free to voice you interest and you shall, one day, receive.
> 
> That being said, this chapter is entirely optional and, if you happen to find Mind Games worked better for you the way it ended last chapter, you are entirely free to disregard this one and go on with your life.
> 
> As it stands, this is just a bonus chapter for anyone who liked Mind Games and would like a bit more of that. "A bit more" being the keywords here, given how this chapter is almost 35k words long and therefore beats the original Oneshot's length of 14k by a total of 21k words. :P
> 
> I hope you will enjoy it. Check the A/N at the end for more details about this chapter. Oh, and also: feel free to join my discord if you are interested and would like to talk about GC and my works. You can find a lot of background info there as well as nag me to finally update my other stories. There are also nice sections to explore such as the #funfacts section or the Reclaiming the Throne OST project I am working on at the side. Here's the link:
> 
> www.discord.gg/EcF823z

**Long live the Queen!**

Ayase opened her eyes, blinking a few times in confusion as she looked around.

She stood inside of a big building. As she lifted her gaze, she realized that the ceiling was pretty high up and was adorned with beautiful frescos typically associated with the baroque era. Squinting in an attempt to make out what the frescos depicted, she was soon to realize she couldn't quite see it from her position, given how the bright light from the various windows in this room made looking up quite the ordeal. A real shame, she thought.

On each of her sides were beautifully white marble walls lined up with polished oval pillars, each of them adorned by golden plating at the bottom and the top as well as banners decorated with a symbol that reminded her of what once used to be on Shu's hands. Above them, the infamous rows of windows were located. Judging by the sheer amount of light entering from outside, the brunette woman mused that it must be quite beautiful and sunny outside. No wonder it was so blinding to look up.

Directing her attention to what was in front of her at last, she realized she stood on a long red carped leading up to several elevated platforms, each connected by a small central stairway leading up to what looked to be a throne. Seeing that, it didn't take her long to realize that this must have been some sort of throne room. Upon closer inspection, she even realized that she stood on the lowest platform, as there was no lower platform to be seen behind her. Everything that wasn't covered by the red carpet was instead revealed to be a white and black checkered floor, not unlike a chess board's playing field.

Directly behind the throne was yet another window on each of its sides, impressively leading all the way up to the ceiling and engulfing the throne room with even more light.

Basking at the gorgeous view with a smile that attempted to rival the room's brightness, she took a moment to look down on herself and couldn't help but amazedly tracing her legs with her fingers, still in disbelief that she was actually standing on her own feet! Ah, what a marvelous feeling it truly was. So marvelous, in fact, that she almost failed to notice the sword sheath being attached to her belt as well as the leather armor she currently wore. A small buckler was also resting in her left hand, its weight feeling so natural to her that she hadn't even noticed carrying it in the first place. Looking at it closely, she realized the symbol of a pawn being engraved into its front side, thus eventually reminding her of what she came here for to do.

She looked up and forward again, nervously gulping down as she tried gathering her resolve. Yes, today was the day of her long awaited promotion, or so she had decided at least. The decision itself was up to her king, of course, but she was confident, no, _sure_ that he would appoint her his queen. He absolutely had to! Clenching her fist in front of her and shaking her head one last time to get rid of all her doubts, she eventually assumed a determined expression as she took her first step forward. However, she had barely placed her foot on the first step of the stairs that lead to the next platform when she could feel a hand being placed gently on her right shoulder-guard, causing her to stop in her tracks and turn around to the stranger in surprise.

The stranger in question turned out to be no stranger at all, as it was Souta's familiar face that greeted her. Giving her his trademark goofy grin he asked: "Leaving so soon?"

Ayase allowed herself to look at him for a second and realized that he had sported the same gear she had. A sword, a shield, light leather armor and the emblem of a pawn stitched on his chest, something she had going for her as well, now that she thought about it. So that's what it had been. She had found it hard to make out without a mirror before.

Realizing that the black haired man was expecting an answer, she cleared her throat embarrassedly and said:

"Ah, yes. It is time for me to go. Today is an important day, you know." She told him with a kind smile.

Souta, however, only scratched the back of his head nervously. "Are you sure you want to go? Being a pawn ain't half bad. Sure, we are low in the food chain, but we also have no responsibilities to worry about. No one ever expects anything from us, so we can never fail, only succeed. Plus, you already made it over to this side, so isn't this enough?"

She narrowed her eyes on him in disdain as she folded her arms in front of her. "You know, shouldn't you be a bit more supportive of me? Aren't we friends?"

He gave her an awkward laugh and shrugged. "Friendship is cool and all, but in the end we all serve the same king. If you manage to go up there and make him happy, then all is good. But if you fail and cause him to plunge himself back into darkness, we are all going down with him, remember that." With that, he simply turned around and faced away from the throne, thus leaving Ayase to do whatever she pleased.

She frowned at him. How weird of him to act like that. The Souta she knew wouldn't say something like that and then simply end the conversation so abruptly. It was almost as if he was trying to talk her out of it, thinking she wasn't good enough to become Shu's queen. She looked down as she bit on her lower lip. Maybe he was right? Maybe she was being hasty? Was she making a mistake, perhaps? If she stopped right now and remained a pawn for a while longer, nothing would change. She could still be with Shu.

But that's when she saw the flaw in that.

Nothing would change.

Yet she desired change. She had taken up the mantle of a pawn for the sole reason of becoming Shu's queen in the end. If nothing would change, everything she had done up to this point would have been for naught. No, she would not back down now. Today was the day. Today was _her_ day.

She pressed on.

"Good luck." She heard Souta say upon witnessing her decision.

"Thank you." Was her response to him. Neither of them turned around to face the other. She would be leaving "pawndom" for good.

She had barely even reached the next platform when she was greeted by a man standing in front of her, covered in full plate armor. Confidently and strong he blocked her path with folded arms, his helmet hiding his face completely aside from his closed eyes. When they finally opened, she was greeted by calmness and yet also seriousness.

"So you came, Ayase."

"So it's you, Argo." She recognized him by his voice. His armor was spotlessly clean and the symbol of a knight adorned his chest. A giant two-handed sword had been stuck in the ground next to him, its blade so perfectly crafted, you could reflect yourself in it. Knowing Argo, it was probably also perfectly maintained, too, allowing for the most possible efficiency there is.

"Indeed. I approve of your resolve to become a knight. The likes of you should not have to be mere pawns." He told her with a gentle nod and pointed towards his sword. "Come and take this sword in the name of our king and let's protect him like the knights we are."

For a moment she looked at the weapon next to him and thought about it. If she settled with merely becoming Shu's knight, she could still guard his happiness with her own two hands. Thinking back, she would have come pretty far considering how she had once been the black queen. Not only had she managed to get over to the right side, she would also become one of Shu's trusted knights, sworn to protect his health and honor. She looked down.

But was this enough? Was this what she wanted? A part of her told her that merely protecting Shu from harm would be good enough, but another part of her was screaming at her for being foolish to even just consider this. There was only one position she truly desired to be in, only one way for her to go. Forward.

That's why she eventually lifted her gaze again and told Argo: "I shall protect the king like your said, yet I won't do so from your side, but his instead."

His disapproval was evident from the way he closed his eyes and sighed. "Is that so…"

He then slowly reached out for the sword he had offered her just now and grabbed it with a firm hand, pulling it out of the ground and swinging it once before raising it against her.

"Then I am afraid I can't let you pass." He declared confidently, causing the brunette woman to glare at him angrily.

"Why?"

"You are a formidable warrior, Ayase, but that is the extent of your ability. You may be able to perform the duties of a soldier, but a queen you will never be. I cannot allow you to break our king's heart, as he would not be able to withstand it a second time. Without a queen, he may be unhappy, but even an unhappy king is better than a broken one."

"You're wrong!" She told him while unsheathing her sword as well. "Everyone deserves happiness! What good is a kingdom for when there is no happiness to be found in it?"

"Being king is pain. A king does not live for himself, but for his people. His sadness is but a small price to pay for the happiness of everyone else."

His words caused anger to surface from her heart as she glared at him with gritted teeth. "And you call yourself his knight!?" She stormed forward with a battle cry.

"A knight merely has to protect the king. His happiness is none of my concern, nor should it be yours." The knight explained to her as he lifted his sword up to strike it down on her. She blocked it with her buckler and attempted to counterattack with her own sword, yet failed to get through the plate armor. Noticing this, Argo used the opening she provided him with and kicked her back harshly.

"Your attitude is why he is so miserable in the first place." She told him as she rolled off of the ground and regained her battle posture. "The whole world got saved by him, yet none of the saved would extend a hand and save their savior! If everyone would just try to give a bit of their happiness back to Shu to replace the one he has lost, everything could be solved."

"Nonsense. We are just servants not even on his level. If he can't bring himself happiness, why should we be able to?" He now chased after Ayase in hope of overwhelming her small frame with sheer force.

She, however, waited until the last moment to sidestep and kick him into the back of his knees to make him lose his balance. Instinctively, he attempted to use his sword as a support to prevent him from falling over, but his brunette opponent blocked his sword with her own one and caused him to drop it. Without his sword, all he could do to catch himself was using his hands before he would fall face first onto the ground. However, when he looked up to see what Ayase was up to next, he was already greeted by a hit from her shield, thus finally bringing him to the ground completely. His attempt at standing up was stopped by a blade being held at his throat. Realizing his defeat for what it was, he eventually surrendered.

Ayase looked down at him with disgust, unable to even think that the man in front of her could possibly be Argo. Even if the gloomy man she had come to know for so many years now had really thought these things he had just told her, he would have never voiced these thoughts out aloud in the way he just had. She knew that the Argo she knew wouldn't be fine with Shu suffering for the greater good. At least not without trying to at least soften Shu's pain at least somewhat. Thus she couldn't help but ask:

"Are you really okay with your king hurting the way he is?"

"Of course not." He eventually admitted bitterly. "If the king was happy, everyone would be happy. But this isn't the kind of ideal world in which something like that would happen. The thing he needs in order to attain happiness has already been lost and like with most things that are lost, replacements only tend to work for a short while before they eventually break. Rather than giving my king some short lived happiness that only plunges him back into despair once it eventually falls apart, keeping him in his current state might be the kinder choice."

She eyed him angrily now. So this was it? He, too, thought she couldn't do it? That she would only break Shu's heart? Why could no one believe in her? Was it that, perhaps, they could see something she couldn't? Maybe her own wishful thinking made her selfishly press on with no regards of how Shu would feel? She turned around and looked up to where the throne was located worriedly, only to shake off her doubts once more. No, she thought, her feelings for him were genuine. From the bottom of her heart, she desired him to be happy. She would personally see to it that he would attain happiness with all her might. Failure was not an option. She knew she couldn't replace Inori, but she _could_ end his sadness. That she was sure of.

As she was heading for the next set of stairs, she noticed how Argo slowly got up behind her. However, contrary to her assumption of him chasing her, he simply rammed his sword back into the ground and placed himself next to it like he had before, facing away from her.

"I hope you know what you are doing." Was all he said to her. She didn't respond as she wordlessly turned around and climbed the stairs at last.

On the next platform, she was met with a certain black haired girl she was so familiar with. She was currently busy drawing some weird symbols on the ground which Ayase had never seen before, each of them aligned into a huge circle almost as big as the platform itself. Their use was at least as much a mystery to the brunette pawn as their meaning was, as she sure as hell couldn't read them. Since there was no way to figure out what her friend was doing, Ayase thought asking her outright might be as good an approach as any.

"Hey Tsugumi, what are you up to?"

"Ah, Aya-nee, good timing. I need your help with this transmutation circle." The smaller girl told her without looking up. Ayase noticed the beautiful scepter lying next to her as well as the cape she wore that sported the symbol of a bishop on her back. A pompous hat was neatly placed at her feet, as it likely would have fallen off her head during the process of drawing had she actually worn it, given how big it was.

"Sorry but I am kind of busy at the moment, you know." Ayase politely yet firmly declined.

"With what? Throwing your life away?" Tsugumi merely responded with an annoyed sigh, still not looking up from her work. Naturally, this angered her brunette friend quite a bit. Such a harsh thing to say, even for a cheeky girl such as Tsugumi. Narrowing her eyes at her in disdain, Ayase thus hoped she had merely misheard.

"Haaah?"

"You heard me. Look, I get it. Shu was kinda cool when he saved the world and I suppose he ain't half bad personality-wise, but the man's broken now. Whatever you fell for all these years ago is long gone. Don't you think it's time to move on and look for someone who suits you more? Why settle for damaged goods, when there are plenty of good men out there who would fall to their knees, begging you to marry them?"

Pressing her eyelids shut so strongly they even began quivering due to her anger, Ayase forced an evil smile on her lips as she responded: "Do I really need dating advice from a chronically single woman whose only non-female associates tend to be of the mechanical kind?"

Seeing her dark haired friend flinch at that comment, the brunette pawn smirked in self-satisfaction and folded her arms in front of her as she added: "Besides, if people have to beg for my love, they quite obviously aren't suitable for it in the first place."

"But at least they could offer you something. What could Shu possibly offer you the way he is now?" Tsugumi merely grumbled back at her, visibly annoyed.

Losing her confidence momentarily, Ayase was seen averting her gaze and playing with her hair awkwardly with a slight blush creeping up her face. "I would be plenty fine with just receiving his love…"

"Love…" She heard Tsugumi snicker at her derisively as she shrugged. "Is it really that important?"

"I would rather spend my days with a broken man who truly loves me than someone who could offer me the world, yet would only treat me like a doll." Ayase told her firmly as she moved her right hand in a way that suggested her smacking away the mere possibility of being with anyone else but Shu. The mere idea _disgusted_ her. There might be many men out there, but there was only one who viewed her the way Shu did. The way she wanted to be viewed. He was someone who didn't reduce her to her disability or her beauty alone. Someone who saw her for who she was and loved her for it. It was almost ironic, really. Shu may have been blind, but only he could see the things no one else could. Her heart.

Tsugumi eventually decided that she had heard enough. Finally letting go of her weird transmutation circle she was scribbling on the floor, she was seen getting up and putting on her big bishop's hat, followed by grabbing her scepter with a frown.

"Foolish. Such a thing as love doesn't exist. It's all biology at work, trying to get us to find some dude and spawn kids for him. Humanity sure is pathetic, huh? We learned of that fact long ago, yet continue to fall for the same trap as if we never learned anything. Rather than letting biology influence our decision, shouldn't we rather do so rationally?" The black haired bishop tried to reason with her. Obviously to no avail.

"You know, Tsugumi…just because you never fell in love doesn't mean it doesn't exist or has to be bad." Ayase said as she massaged the back of her neck, looking troubled. "In the first place, I think you might be spending a bit too much time with your machines if you really think people could just turn off their emotions like robots."

"If I can do it, so can you!" Tsugumi merely shot back angrily as she pointed at the pawn before her with quite some frustration. "Geez, why must everyone around me be so damn simple? I am trying to help here, but all I get is you dissing me constantly, so you know what? Fuck it. You. Shall. Not. PASS!" Slamming the end of her scepter against the ground once she had shouted the last word, the transmutation circle on the ground began glowing brightly. Ayase found herself forced to raise a hand to shield her eyes only to be greeted by a huge crystal Endlave that had appeared out of thin air by the time she had already lowered her hand again.

"Are you freaking kidding me…?" Ayase couldn't help but mutter with gritted teeth. "You know, boys actually play wingman for each other when they want to hook up with girls. And here I have you doing the exact opposite instead."

"Well excuse me if I actually care about the future. You and Shu getting together…pah. What for? To lick each other's wounds? Stupid. If you want somebody to lick you, get yourself a dog! And what am I supposed to do when you two don't work out and break up again? Don't force me to choose sides, damnit! I don't wanna stop being friends just because you two get awkward with each other! Why can't everything just stay the way it is!?" Tsugumi shot a barrage of complaints at her while raising her scepter and pointing it at Ayase, causing the crystal golem she had summoned to move.

"Why does everyone always assume it won't work out!?" The brunette pawn yelled in frustration as she charged forward. She knew herself that her chances of victory against an Endlave, even if just a crystal one which likely wouldn't be able to use any real weaponry, were pitiful at best, but if there was one thing she was known for then that she wasn't a quitter. Readying her blade in her right hand and holding her shield in her left one firmly, she faced the crystal giant head on.

Like you would expect, the crystal likeness of an Endlave was just that. An imitation. Made up entirely out of crystals, it didn't have the slightest bit of technological advantage a normal Endlave would have had. While it had guns modeled into its frame, those were just for show as the mechanics used to shoot bullets wasn't present. Even the wheels that normally would allow the mecha to advance with great speed were unable to function properly without the electronics present to power it. Whatever strange thing Tsugumi had done to create this thing, it was flawed to no end and therefore nothing else but a glorified crystal golem that could do little but move.

Even so, it was huge and although it was slow, from the way the ground shook with every step it took, it most certainly was heavy. So while Ayase didn't have to fear fighting a modern high speed Endlave on foot, she still had to face a heavy giant on her own.

With a valiant battle cry and more optimism than rationality in her heart, she eventually swung her blade against the giant's left foot. She knew all too well that expecting a positive outcome out of this action was naïve at best, but a certain part of her, namely the romantic side she hardly ever got to show, had really wished that the power of her feelings alone could have empowered her strike and shattered the golem in one clean hit. For that was how strong they felt to her at least.

Alas, this wasn't some convenient shounen anime you would get to watch on a Saturday morning. Feelings were certainly important and there was strength to be harnessed from them, but not _that_ much. Her blow against the crystal Endlave produced a loud sound not unlike the one people produced when walking against glass doors, but aside from that, the titan was unfazed. Much to Ayase's disdain.

"Aw, come on! Not even a crack?"

"You mean like this?" Tsugumi sneered and gave her summoned creature a nod. Following her command, the crystal Endlave lunged out in order to hit its smaller opponent. The construct was as slow as ever, allowing the brunette pawn plenty of time to dodge, but even though she had managed to avoid the attack, the same couldn't be said about the small earthquake that followed the impact. Unable to keep her balance, she awkwardly stumbled back and fell on her butt, quickly raising her shield to avoid getting hit by smaller debris that had broken off of the platform and were sent her way.

Once the dust had settled, there now was a multitude of cracks and a small crater to be seen on the impact site. Ayase gulped at the thought of what might have happed to her if she hadn't dodged the attack in the first place. Surely she would have made a nice pancake? Not that she particularly wanted to be one, of course.

Tsugumi could only fold her arms in front of her chest and grin at her friend as she exhaled out of her nose arrogantly. Showing the brunette woman a smug and toothy grin, she said:

"Ready to give up now? Good. Grab a scepter and I will teach you how to become a bishop. Maybe you will be able to summon a golem half as decent as mine with my proper guidance. And afterwards, we could talk about more suitable men for you to pursuit."

"You cheeky, little…" Jumping back on her feet, Ayase eyed her dark haired friend angrily. Oh she would show her…!

Slowly, she retreated to the edge of the platform. This, of course, caused the arrogant bishop to laugh.

"What's with you, eying me so defiantly, yet running away like a scared kitten? Come on, you are better than that, Aya-nee!"

"Shut up…who would face that thing head on? You must be nuts!"

"That's why I told you to give up, you know."

"Never!"

"Fine, have it your way." With a carefree shrug, Tsugumi waved her scepter around and commanded her creation to move forward. The heavy golem took one heavy step after another to chase its small opponent down. Yet, despite Ayase slowly getting cornered at the edge of the platform, she couldn't help but snicker evilly.

"Yeah, just come closer you big piece of junk…" she muttered under her breath.

The individual platforms leading up to the throne weren't that big. Probably just enough to let three of these golems stand on it, side to side. Still, if the brunette pawn played her cards right and lured the heavy golem close enough to the edge, she might just be able to…

"Now, get her!" Tsugumi yelled confidently once she saw the crystal Endlave towering over the pawn. Slowly, but surely, the creation raised its arm too crush her.

That's when Ayase decided to make her move! Waiting for just the last second, she eventually threw herself sideways with all her might, silently amazed at all the strength present in her legs. She had feared she might not make it far enough to avoid getting hit by debris, but ended up launching herself far enough to get away unscathed by the Endlave's heavy blow. While she couldn't quite avoid messing up her roll on the ground as she landed in the end, meeting the ground with her face was still a small price to pay in exchange for Tsugumi's loss.

As it turned out, the platform they were standing on had been massively damaged by the golem's first attack. Since Tsugumi, in her unending arrogance, hadn't held back in order to display her golem's unrivaled strength, it had inevitably ended up riddling the platform with cracks that even reached to the very edges of the ground, thus weakening the structure's integrity all around. Realizing this, Ayase had hoped that another blow could easily make part of it fall off.

Luckily for her, that's exactly what had happened. The second blow produced by the crystal Endlave ended up creating more cracks that eventually further fractured the ground and ended up with a big chunk of it, namely the part it stood on, to become loose. As the ground on its feet started to become unstable, the heavy golem attempted catching its balance by shifting its center of mass. However, with each step it took with its heavy feet, it only ended up further breaking the floor. In the end, a huge chunk of the lower right edge of the platform broke off completely, sliding down to the lower levels. As the crystal Endlave was still standing on that part, it naturally ended up falling down with it as well, breaking apart in the process once it crashed on the ground.

"N-no way…" Tsugumi could only mutter in silent disbelief as she blinked repeatedly, hoping she just wasn't seeing right. "That did _not_ just happen!" Now running over to the edge of her fractured platform, she placed herself carefully in front of the fracture and peered down to look for her creation. Once she eventually saw how broken it was, she put both her hands on each side of her head and shook it in despair.

"Nooo! My baby!"

"Oi, Tsugumi. What the hell are you throwing your junk down here for? Clean this shit up right this instant!" She heard Argo yell up to her, visibly angered by all that rubble ending up on his platform. This naturally pissed off the black haired bishop as she pointed her right index finger at him.

"What are you calling junk, you stupid ape! Shouldn't you be happy I gave your bored self an opportunity to use these useless muscles of yours? Why don't you actually _do_ something for once and do some heavy lifting instead of polishing your sword all day. And yes! I am aware of the double meaning!"

Argo's right eye began twitching in anger as he smirked at her evilly, rubbing his fists eagerly in the process. "Why don't you come down here and say that to me again? I would love to discipline that rotten tongue of yours!"

"Yeah, wouldn't you like that, idiot!" Tsugumi yelled back, using her finger to push down her right eye's lower eyelid, accompanied by sticking out her tongue.

"Aren't you forgetting something here, _Tsu-gu-mi_?" The deceivingly sweet sound of Ayase's voice behind her ended up sending shivers down the bishop's spine. Slowly, almost mechanically turning around with a nervous smile, Tsugumi faced her best friend.

"Ah, Aya-nee. Hello there. Come, give your best friend a biiig hug." She said with an inviting smile as she held out her arms for a big embrace. The brunette pawn, however, would have none of that. Smirking devilishly, she raised both her hands to put Tsugumi's head in between her knuckles, followed by squeezing them together with quite enough might to let her veins become visible on her hands. There was no mercy at all.

"Yeah, let me hug you with my fists!"

"Argh, Aya-nee! Stop! It hurts, it hurts, it huuuurts! Meanie! Gorilla! Let go!"

"I am half inclined to push you down towards Argo for all these things you said." Ayase told her angrily once she let her go after what felt like an eternity to the dark haired bishop. Facing her with teary eyes, Tsugumi rubbed both sides of her head and retorted:

"Why? Just because I am looking out for you?"

"You call that looking out for me? You sent a golem down to crush me!"

"So? It wouldn't have killed you! All it needed to do is stop you!"

"Why? Why can't you just support me!" Ayase yelled at her angrily as she took hold of both her shoulders.

"Because I can't watch you two fall apart again!" Tsugumi yelled back at her while slapping Ayase's hands away from her. Tears were now forming in her eyes.

The brunette pawn couldn't help but feel taken aback ever so slightly at that outburst. "What do you…"

"You think it's so easy! That you go up there and Shu will just accept you with open arms! But have you ever thought of what would happen if he would not? I still remember what had happened to you when Gai first died! How miserable you felt! And how Shu was a wreck after Inori died! Do you think I want to see that shit again? Do you!?" Tsugumi assaulted her, even pushing her back ever so slightly before calming down a bit, facing down.

"The Undertakers are no more. Everyone went away to live their own lives. You and Shu are the only ones I still see these days. Of course I want to see you two happy, but I know it is impossible. Even I can't repair a fried motherboard, let alone a shattered heart. Some things in this world are just beyond salvaging. If you two get together and then fall apart again, there will be wounds left behind none of you will ever be able to recover from. Besides, your breakup would tear apart more than just you two. How are all your friends supposed to deal with it once you two decide to walk different paths? We could all pretend that nothing's changed, but we both know that's not gonna work. Some will stick with Shu, some will stick with you, but all of us coming together again? It won't happen."

She shook her head sadly before eying Ayase again. "I won't let this family get torn apart. I won't let you two fall apart, either! If I can't fix you, the very least I can do is prevent further damage! So, Ayase…just stay down here with me. I'll teach you to be a bishop and we can both watch over Shu. And while we are at it. We can find you someone else. It will be fine, won't it? What do you say?"

Tsugumi's expression was hopeful as she waited for Ayase's response with a nervous smile. However, even though the pawn understood where her dark haired friend came from, she still shook her head in the end.

"I am afraid that's impossible, Tsugumi." She told her calmly.

"Why…?"

"Because I love Shu." Was her simple answer to that.

"So what? Big deal. Just fall in love with someone else. Shu wasn't the first man you fell for, was he?"

"It's not that easy, Tsugumi." Ayase sighed at her friend. "People don't want to be with someone they love just because they want to be happy. I mean, some people surely do, but…I want to be with Shu because I want to make _him_ happy. That, in return, would make _me_ happy. Does that make sense to you?" The brunette woman asked her friend somewhat sheepishly as she massaged the back of her neck. It was surprisingly hard to explain this to someone else.

Tsugumi could do little but groan at her. "It does and does not at the same time. If it would make you happy to just see Shu happy, couldn't you just leave it to someone else?"

"To whom, Tsugumi?" Ayase asked her amusedly. "You?"

"Buergh, no way." Tsugumi formed an X in front of her with both her arms. "Even if I had an interest in him, I wouldn't be masochistic enough to fight for his affection."

"See, there is your answer." Ayase told her with a sad smile, looking up into the direction of Shu's throne higher up. "It's true that a selfish part of me really wishes to be with him and have him for myself, but my wish to see him happy is even greater than that. If there was a woman who could be with him and keep his pain away, I would be willing to stand down and watch over his happiness from down here. It would be a bit painful, but it would be enough. But you see…there really isn't anyone willing to go that far now, is there? If it was Inori or perhaps even Hare, those two would have been willing to go through all the pain in the world to be with Shu, but they are here no longer. Who else would be willing to go that far for Shu, Tsugumi? Who would be strong enough to shoulder his pain?"

Her friend frowned at her. "You would be willing to go that far?"

"I would stop at nothing, Tsugumi." She declared determinedly.

"Even if it killed you?"

"If that's what it takes…" Her resolve didn't waver in the slightest.

Tsugumi sighed at that and shook her head in disbelief. "Your love was always this extreme…diving into enemy territory to save Gai, refusing to bailout even when he told you so, and when Shu was left behind in that darn GHQ base everyone had to practically drag you out of there since you would have gone right back to grab him otherwise, even though the whole building was already collapsing. Sheesh, why do you always go that overboard? You know, most guys would already be happy if a girl was just loving them enough to knit them a scarf during winter or if she was supporting their stupid hobbies."

"S-shut up. Everyone loves someone in their own way." Ayase told her off with a blush as she looked away in shame, playing with her hair absent-mindedly. So what if she loved Shu enough to risk death? It's not like she could regulate the intensity of her feelings like one could with the heat of a stove. She just loved him that much, alright? It wasn't a bad thing…besides, who said she _wouldn't_ knit a scarf for Shu? She would totally do that! She would even knit a pair of matching gloves for him to go along with it, no problem! Stupid Tsugumi!

"Well, at least you two match in that regard. After all, he is the same kinda idiot as you…pushing himself to his limits and even being ready to throw his life away for Inori. If you ever managed to get him to fall for you, undoubtedly, he would do the same for you, too. Really, I am all surrounded by idiots." The dark haired bishop scratched the back of her head in frustration.

"Argh, this is so stupid. I don't care anymore. Do whatever the hell you please." She turned around and moved back to the center of the shattered platform, putting down her bishop's hat and scepter once more in favor of producing a piece of chalk from her pocket. Kneeling down, she then proceeded to draw a new transmutation circle, probably to replace the one she had already used up to summon her now shattered crystal golem.

"So, does that mean I have your blessing?" Ayase asked her jokingly as she approached her from behind.

"Yeah, yeah. Go ahead and become the queen of gorillas, for all I care. Just don't come back to me crying if it doesn't work out." The younger woman told her scornfully as she waved her off, never looking back at her.

That's when she felt two arms wrapping themselves around her from behind, taking hold of her in a loving embrace.

"W-wha-?"

"Thank you, Tsugumi." She told her friend with a kind smile as she leaned her head on her shoulder.

For a moment, Tsugumi was silent as if unsure how to even respond, but it didn't take her too long to regain her composure.

"I get it, I get it, alright. Now go already, before I change my mind!" She told her brunette friend embarrassedly as she freed herself from the embrace and urged her to go on.

Ayase nooded in response. "I'll be off, then."

"Yeah, now get moving. Shoo, shoo!"

Ayase grinned as Tsugumi shooed her away, knowing full well that, although her friend was quite eager to tease Ayase about her feelings, Tsugumi was actually quite bad with expressing her own. She would rather push her friends away than admit she cared about them, even though she had already admitted as much earlier in their conversation. Oh well, it was just her way of expressing friendship, Ayase mused.

As the brunette pawn finally started ascending the steps that led up to the next platform, she was suddenly interrupted halfway.

"Aya-nee!"

She turned around in wonder.

"Don't you dare failing, you hear? I won't forgive you!" She saw Tsugumi yell up to her, now standing and looking at her with a cheeky grin.

This caused Ayase to smile. Raising a fist confidently, she replied: "You bet! I will definitely succeed!"

"You better! Now go! Be happy!" She waved her good-bye, still grinning. Ayase nodded as she turned around again, her confidence now stronger than ever.

"Thanks, Tsugumi…" She silently muttered to herself.

Then she started climbing the stairs again.

The next platform ended up to be the last one before the throne. Seeing this, Ayase's heart was filled with both, excitement as well as nervousness. She was getting close. Soon she would be meeting her king. Would he be happy to see her? Surely he would be. There was nothing that could stand between her and her promotion. There was no doubt!

"You are looking lively." These words suddenly pulled her back into reality. Directing her gaze at the source, she soon spotted a man her age casually sitting on the stairs leading to the throne. He was dressed like a noble of ages long past, yet his garments had been manufactured in a style that would suggest they were processed in today's age with materials and procedures not even available at the time of kings and queens. Yet, fancy as they were, Ayase got little to see of them as the majority was hidden under an elegant jacket with a cape thrown over his shoulders. This man could have easily come across as a general or court adviser, yet logic dictated that if she had started as a pawn and met a knight and bishop, this one's had to be a rook. Ayase was sure he must have worn a matching emblem somewhere on his body. Perhaps on the backside of his cape, since Ayase couldn't see it.

His weapon of choice appeared to be a halberd which idly leaned against his shoulder. Its blade looked spotlessly clean and reflected the light marvelously, yet the brunette pawn didn't doubt it was at least as deadly as it was pretty. Still, there was little fear in Ayase's heart, as the man's face immediately managed to drain all the respect she could have possibly had right off her. With a displeased expression, she responded:

"Of all the people who could be his rook, why you?"

"Oh no. Some unpleasant girl came up to me and questioned my qualification as the king's rook. Whatever am I gonna do now with my life now?" The brunette man mockingly responded as he leaned his face against his hand in feigned shock, never losing the playful grin he had sported from the very beginning.

"Who are you calling unpleasant, Yahiro?" Ayase replied angrily as she closed her eyes shut strong enough to make her brows quiver. "In the first place, shouldn't you be on the enemy side rather than this, being the turncoat that you are?"

His playful grin evolved into a mischievous smirk as he replied: "And shouldn't you be rolling around in a wheelchair, cripple?"

She narrowed her eyes at him in absolute disdain as she brandished her sword. "Alright, I get it. You wanna fight. Bring it."

Yet Yahiro could only chuckle. "Fight? Me? Far from it. In fact, you can go right through if you want. I won't stop you." He casually slid to the side to make room for her to take the stairs, inviting her with his free left hand.

Ayase, however, could only furrow her brows in suspicion. Now this was certainly odd.

"Everyone up to now was against me going up, yet you of all people are in favor? Why?"

He shrugged at that. "If I managed to beat you here, you would not be able to advance, meaning that you would be stuck here. You would become a rook and I would have to see and deal with you for the rest of my days. Before that happens, I will actually rather walk all the way down there to Souta, and beg him to switch with me. At least that way I would still be allowed to remain sane, right?" He chuckled.

"You….you…!" She tried to hold back her fury by taking deep breaths. In the end, though, she managed to collect herself and decided to sheathe her sword again as she approached him. "No, nevermind. If that's all, then I won't waste anymore of our time and be on my way." She passed him by without even looking at him. However, she had already moved way past him when he said something that made her halt in her tracks.

Never turning around to her, he just kept talking with a sad look. "There is also the fact that I owe Shu more than I could ever repay him. My task as rook is to protect him from danger, but why should I protect him from you, who is likely the only chance of salvation he still has left in this world?"

Taken aback by his words, Ayase nearly fell down the few stairs she had already taken.

"Wha-?"

"What is it?" He wondered with a soft chuckle.

"Everyone up until now was thinking I would only be hurting Shu, yet _you_ of all people are supportive?" She gave herself bewildered, yet he only kept looking with a melancholic smile.

"Why shouldn't I be? You are a strange and obnoxious woman, but you are also one of the purest gems I have ever seen. The likes of you cannot be obtained by just any man so I should consider myself happy that you settled for Shu of all people. Not that he would be unworthy or anything. Just that there would have been other, easier choices for you."

"What's with you…" Ayase mumbled awkwardly as she turned around, unwilling to face him with the slight blush on her face. "First you insult me, then compliment me. I don't understand you."

"There is nothing to understand. I am just stating the truth. You _are_ unpleasant. You _are_ obnoxious at times. But you are also strong, beautiful and pure. It's hard to handle you because you require a certain type of man for that. A type even better than me. And, seeing how I regard myself as quite a league above even other men, that already speaks volumes about your worth." He told her with a chuckle as he shrugged. "If I had to put it in words, women like you are like the stars. Marvelous to behold, yet unattainable. And rightfully so, because every star is actually a distant sun. Get too close and they will burn you.

Ayase found herself humming in an impressed manner at that analogy as she walked back down to take a seat next to him.

"Who would have thought? It appears there is more depth to you than I would previously have given you credit for." She told him with a teasing grin as she gently shoved his shoulder. But then she sighed tiredly. "Too bad suns are loners, hm? There might be many of them out there, but each of them is all by itself in its own little system, is it not?"

"Not quite." Yahiro told her amusedly. "They are often accompanied by planets. Irresistible as the sun is, they find themselves being pulled towards it, basking in its light and warmth. There are not many, but each of them is strong enough to keep the sun company without getting annihilated by its radiant light. Tsutsugami Gai was such a planet. And even Shu is one as well. However, he is a planet on the brink of collapse, his surface cracked and barren. Your warmth could give him life again, but his delicate state means that he could break with even the smallest mistake. Send him too much of your love and he completely dries up, roasted by your heat. Give him too little and he would eventually freeze up, effectively destroying every chance for him to recover. As a woman of your caliber, I am confident that you are up to the task, but the question is…should you? Shu is not the only planet there is. There may not be many and they might be harder to find the further away they are from you, but they might be more stable and, therefore, easier to handle."

Ayase looked down on her hands as she began fiddling around with her thumbs: "Tsugumi said something similar and perhaps you two are right. If I looked harder, maybe I could find someone else that I could maybe even fall in love with. The thing, however, is that I don't want to. Even if loving Shu is hard, even if it takes everything off me, as long as I can make him smile and laugh with me, I feel like all of the hardships I have to endure would be worth the trouble, you know?"

He nodded understandingly. "They say…" He looked up thoughtfully. "…that when you are born, several potential soul mates are born as well. Not necessarily at the same time and not always in the same country. Sometimes there are more, sometimes there are less, but there is always at least one. It is said that everyone gets a chance of running into their soul mates at least once in their life but it is up to you to notice and hook up with them, otherwise you might never meet again. Some people find their destined others, others get impatient and choose someone that was not meant for them, never getting happy in the end, and some even waste their chance completely and never meet their soul mates again. Only the luckiest ones manage to find several of them in their life. Shu was such a lucky bastard. Where others would be happy to just find one, he ran into three, but then he was unfortunate enough to lose two of them again. I think it would be nothing short of a wonder if he ever were to find a fourth, do you understand?"

The pawn sitting next to him smiled sadly. "Yeah. I think that, even if there was a fourth, Shu would never even attempt to love again. There is only so much pain your heart can take, after all." She told him thoughtfully as she hugged her knees and put her face on top of them. "I don't intend for Shu to ever need a fourth, but I just can't help but compare myself to Inori or even Hare. Both of them managed to ignite something in Shu that changed him forever. I want to do the same, but sometimes I wonder if I really could…if all of us were suns, I am afraid they might have shone brighter than me." By the end of her sentence, her face had already been buried in her knees.

Yahiro leaned back and looked up, humming thoughtfully. "That's true, each one of you was special, just as each sun in the universe is. There are many stars, but although they vary in sizes and types, they are all still stars. You, Inori and Hare, you all had the potential to be queens. Not all of you were or would have been the same type of queen, but each of you were worthy of the title. You may be the crudest and most annoying one of them all, but you still have what it takes to be a queen. Never doubt that. It's not a matter of you having the qualification or not, only a matter of you wanting to make use of it."

She looked up from her knees and offered him a gentle smile. "You really think so?"

"I wouldn't lie about that."

She got up slowly as she threw a glance towards the end of the stairs where her king waited for her.

"Then I guess it's time for me to claim my crown, huh?"

Yahiro looked at her from the corner of his eyes in silence as if hesitating to say something but eventually chose to speak up in the end: "I really shouldn't say this since, as Shu's rook, I am supposed to think of my king first and foremost, but…even though it would be good for him if you went, it would be bad for you to go."

This made Ayase raise a brow in surprise. "Huh, but you just said I could do it, no?"

He bit his lip and nodded. "I know what I said and I meant it. If you head up there, you will become queen. What I am saying is, you shouldn't."

"Why?" She asked him in confusion. It didn't make any sense.

"To become queen is a big honor…and an even bigger burden. You gain a lot, but…the things you lose in return…it's way too much. I got to see how kingship tore away at Shu's heart firsthand. A fate that would befall you as well. You will have Shu to help you get through it, just as he had Inori before, but it won't be pleasant regardless. Shu is my friend and I want to see him happy, but…you are a friend, too. I thought helping Shu gaining happiness at the expense of yours would be fine with me, but…it's not really. That's just the old me trying to resurface. The me I had sworn I had buried the same day I last betrayed Shu. It feels weird to say this now, though, as saving you from queenship might doom Shu in the end. If I want to help Shu, I would have to become the me of the past that was willing to betray others. However, if I refuse to become my old self, I end up betraying Shu again anyway just like before. Seems like I just never can do it right…" He told her as he put a hand over his face in frustration. Ayase, however, surprised him by offering him the kindest of smiles while placing a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

"You know, I think you might not be that bad of a person I always made you out to be. True, you are rude and keep pissing me off most of the time, but below all that macho and sarcastic bullshit of yours seems to be a good side of you I had never noticed before. I am thankful that you are worried about me and Shu, but you really don't have to be. Everything is going to be fine. After talking to you, I am absolutely sure now." She removed her hand and turned around, climbing the stairs again.

"You know, I lied when I said I wouldn't let you become a rook. You could easily just stay if you wanted to. It would be easier and we could continue to talk about stupid stuff while we watch over Shu from down here. It's not as ideal a solution than you becoming queen, but a slightly fairer deal for you as a whole, I think." The brunette man had little hope of his offer being accepted, but neither was he sure he wanted her to accept. It would be better for everyone if she were to reject, after all. Still, he couldn't shake off the guilt of setting her on a path she would never be able to return from, for better or for worse…

In the end, it didn't come as much of a surprise that Ayase would shake her head, never turning around or stopping her ascend.

"I will become queen." She told him reassuringly, looking forward with nothing but resolve. If anything, Yahiro could have mistaken her for a queen already from her aura alone. He chuckled slightly at his own stupid thought.

"Then all hail to you, _your majesty_." He said with a chuckle and let her go, choosing to silently believe in her.

Then, at long last, Ayase finally took the last step leading to the final platform. There was so much light up here coming from all the widows that it was almost blinding to look, causing her to turn around to shield her eyes. This caused her to see everything she had left behind to get up here. She could see the entirety of the throne room, all the platforms starting from the ones for pawns up to the one she had just come from. It hadn't felt like a particular long journey up until now, but looking down on her path from up here, she couldn't help but feel as if she had finished a tremendous adventure. Only now did she realize how tired her feet actually were, feeling as if she had been walking for years. The gear she wore, too, was looking worn and battered as if she had used them for ages. Her shield, in particular, crumbled and fell apart right in her hand from how worn it had become. It was almost as if she had used it to shield far more than just herself with it and now it was paying the price for it. As she was watching it slowly turn to dust, an exhausted sigh escaped her lips.

And yet, despite her fatigue, there was no regret to be felt in her heart. In fact, there was only pride over her accomplishment. As she gazed down on the path she had successfully travelled, a satisfied smile began adorning her lips.

"I made it." She whispered in relief as she closed her eyes in order to take this moment in. "I finally made it."

"Ayase." She was suddenly greeted by a voice she had secretly longed to hear ever since her journey had started. It was deep and strong, yet kind and calm. It was so welcoming, so inviting, that Ayase couldn't help but feel right at home just from hearing it.

Still, she was slightly startled by it for a split second, having utterly forgotten what she had come up here for as she had spaced out. With wide open eyes, she quickly turned around to face the man who had called out to her. And indeed, right there he was. Shu. Her beloved king, sitting calmly on one of the two thrones present here. He wore his old Undertaker uniform, which surprised her, yet had a king's red robe thrown over it like you would expect from a king of the old ages. On his head, a beautiful golden crown rested, decorated with various jewelries which she found matched his reddish brown eyes perfectly. In his hands, instead of a scepter you might have normally expected to see a king holding, Inori's void rested as it leaned across his lap. His left hand's index finger kept idly tapping its blade, producing melodious crystalline sounds whenever his flesh hit the weapon while his right hand was covered in the same crystalline material Inori's void was made of. At first it might have appeared to have fused with his hand from the way he was clinging to its hilt, but Ayase soon realized it was merely his void arm all along.

He was radiating so much authority, so much power, that it left Ayase no room for doubt that he, indeed, was king. In fact, from the way the light from outside kept surrounding the throne he sat on, you might even start thinking he was even more than just that. It was a sight so beautiful and inspiring, you would easily have gotten away calling it divine, even. It utterly took her breath way.

And yet, despite all of that, there was no arrogance to be seen on Shu's face. No coldness or detachment to behold. She was his pawn and he was her king, yet he wasn't looking down on her in the slightest. Instead all he offered her was a kind and welcoming smile. A look with eyes so warm and gentle, you could get the impression you were watching a warming fireplace burning away calmly in the middle of winter. It drew her in like a moth was drawn to light and so she slowly approached his throne without even realizing it. It was almost as if her brain had forwarded over control of her body over to her heart which simply yearned for his warmth. Had some rationality remained in her mind, she would have tried to shaken these thoughts off, blushing at them for being so entirely girly and embarrassing, but she did nothing of that sort. All she could do, in fact, was return his kind smile right back at him as she knelt down in front of him.

"My king, I have finally reached you." She told him contently.

"Indeed, you have." Shu gave her a nod. "I am sure your journey was hard and perilous, but I never had the slightest doubt that you would succeed. You were my strongest pawn, after all." His voice was filled with pride as he closed his eyes knowingly for a second.

"To protect my king, I will stop at nothing."

Shu's smile widened at that. "And I am grateful for that. So tell me, Ayase. You came this far to see me. What can this humble king do for you?"

Nervousness suddenly befell her and she had to try her hardest to gulp it back down before she spoke again. "I have proven myself to be your strongest pawn, my king, but a pawn's power has its limits. I wish to serve you better, yet feel limited by my rank's boundaries. With your blessing, I wish to be promoted."

"I see." Shu nodded understandingly as he gestured with his left hand as if offering her something. "Then a promotion you shall receive. You deserve it, after all."

Hearing this, the brunette woman's heart nearly skipped a beat from excitement. He approved! Shu gestured for her to come closer and, once she was right in front of him, slowly reached out for her chest as his eyes began glowing brightly. A glowing hole appeared soon after, in which the king plunged his hand into slowly, gently, as not to hurt her. Ayase closed her eyes patiently, embracing the strange sensation she had not felt in ages. How nostalgic it really felt.

"Then tell me, Ayase. Which rank do you wish to acquire?" He asked her calmly once he had taken out a small figure from her chest that looked like a pawn piece. As it slowly levitated in his hand, it began changing shapes. The first thing it changed into was the knight piece.

"A knight perhaps? Strong and courageous as they are, you would fit right in. If you became a knight, surely there would be no enemy capable of standing against you."

Yet Ayase could only shake her head slowly. This was not what she wanted.

Shu only smiled understandingly and changed the piece in his hand into a bishop.

"Then perhaps a bishop? Wise and powerful, they deal with threats even long before they manifest. With your ability, I am sure there would be nothing you couldn't foresee, no disaster you could not prevent. You would be a boon to the kingdom and your life would surely be a good one."

"Even so…I wish for a different position, my king." Ayase told him as she looked away, blushing ever so slightly. It was good to hear that he thought so highly of her, but it felt awkward having to decline all his suggestions still.

"Hmmm, is that so." Shu mused thoughtfully as he changed the bishop into a rook in the end. "You would be right to demand even more, of course, as you most certainly deserve it, but I would have liked to spare you the burden of becoming my rook. Rooks enjoy many a privilege, but also the responsibility to be close to me which puts them into great dangers. There are not many who would be willing to fill that position, and there are even less I would want to burden with it. Still, if you really desire it, I shall grant you this position with a heavy heart."

"I am honored, Shu. But this, too, is not the fate I have decided upon." She eventually told him calmly, thus forcing him into a corner. "There is only one position I will ever be satisfied with."

Shu appeared to be visibly troubled as the rook in his hand changed yet again. This time, it became a queen and as Shu's eyes rested on the piece, his expression became distant. Sad. For a while, he just stared at it in silence, his pain and grief so horribly obvious to the brunette pawn before him. When he failed to speak up for quite a while, she decided to snap him out of it by calling his name. An action that, indeed, brought him back to her, but failed to banish the pain visible in his eyes, unfortunately.

He shook his head strongly as he clenched the hand holding the queen piece into a fist.

"No…"

Ayase's eyes widened at the sudden refusal. "No…?"

The king, however, could only grit his teeth in what seemed to be pain and regret. "Not a queen. Never again. I won't allow it." He told her vehemently as he looked away. "You can be anything but that."

This caused her to get rather upset. This wasn't not what she had come here for.

"What? Why?" She demanded an explanation from him. But Shu would have none of that. His expression grew cold as he lowered his eyes on her threateningly.

"Because I am your king and I said so." At this point, the light from outside appeared to dim down. Was the sun setting outside?

"Now that's some bullshit and you know it, Shu!" Ayase growled at him angrily as she threw her hand through the air angrily as if to smack this nonsense away. "You know I won't settle for anything else!"

"That's not for you to decide." Shu merely answered harshly, obviously not intending to back down. "A pawn may promote, but the decision is up to the king."

"If that's so, I at least demand a reason for your decision. If you can give me just a single acceptable one, I promise that I will give up." She told him desperately, clinging to her desired destiny as strongly as she could. She would not back down this easily.

"A reason…?" Shu looked at her, visibly troubled.

"Yes! A reason! Just give me one good reason that explains why I can't be your queen!" She challenged him, being absolutely sure that there was none.

"So my wishes do not matter?" He asked her with an evil smile. "Just because you want to be queen, I should make you one?"

She growled angrily at him. "Stop trying to put words into my mouth I did not say. All I asked of you is to explain your decision in a way I could accept it. Can you do that or not?"

Both glared at each other angrily, neither of them willing to give the other any ground. Seconds passed which turned into minutes and, if you asked Ayase, the very same minutes might as well have become hours at one point, or so it had felt to her at least. Eventually, however, Shu's lips moved again.

"What do you want to hear from me, Ayase?"

"Look me in the eyes, Shu." She told him calmly, yet not without ever losing her stern expression. With eyes sharp enough to cut the air around them, she looked right back at him, never willing to falter to his very own cold gaze.

"Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't love me." She asked of him, careful not to let tears form in her eyes. She could not afford to show weakness here, or else she might crumble apart. Once that happened, her battle would be lost and Shu with it. If there had ever been anything worth fighting for in all her life. It might have been this very moment right here. Nothing else seemed to matter to her anymore. "Only then will I accept your decision and give up on becoming queen."

Shu, for his part, did not reply. His cold eyes were fixed on her like she had told him to, yet the words she had dared him to speak never left his mouth. Eventually, he began lowering his gaze until his hair covered his eyes and his shoulders began to quiver in an attempt to hold back whichever feelings he was trying to suppress.

"How could I not love you, Ayase…" He eventually told her quietly, his voice barely more than a whisper. Not that it had mattered to Ayase, though, as she had heard them well enough. And their meaning made her heart take leaps of joy as a result. Still, she did not allow herself to celebrate victory just yet.

"Then I will not back down, Shu. Not until I am your queen." She told him defiantly as she shook her head decisively.

"You don't understand at all, Ayase." He responded with a quiet chuckle. "You think because I loved you, you should be my queen. Yet it is exactly because I love you that I should try my hardest to prevent you from becoming one."

The light outside had completely dimmed down by now. It appeared to be night now and, following that realization, Ayase noticed how several torches began lighting up the throne room instead. It was only in that light that she began noticing something she had not been able to before. Shu's noble clothes were actually quite damaged on closer inspection. There were several cuts and burn marks on them, not to mention dried up blood. His beautiful crown had lost its gleam and even looked like the gold on it was falling off at parts. He now looked less like a noble king straight out of a fairy tale but a king that had fought on the frontlines of his very own war instead. From the way he looked, it was hard to tell if he had ever won it or not. Or could it even be that it had never even concluded in the first place?

"Shu…are you…alright?" She asked him worriedly after her initial shock had finally left her. She carefully tried to put her hand over his to show him that she was there for him. However, that was when she noticed that there were actually chains wrapped around him, binding him to his throne. Not too tight to actually hurt him or restrain his movement, but they were chains sturdy enough to prevent him from ever getting away from it again. For although they appeared to be slightly rusty from age, the brunette pawn could see from just a glance that they were unbreakable and heavy. All the rust in the world could not eat itself through them. Anyone who just looked at them would be able to understand that.

She gasped and took a step back. "Shu…" She didn't even know what to say. There were no words to describe what she felt upon seeing this. She had heard about the burden of kingship before but…she would have never expected something this _oppressing_.

Shu, for his part, only offered her a weak chuckle. "Do you see now, Ayase? Why you should not be my queen? Why I cannot drag you down to this hell just so I could be with you? Once I was selfish and allowed Inori to put these chains around herself to bind her to me and now not a single day goes by without me cursing myself for that decision. I could not protect her from this burden. Could not keep hold of her as the weight of my sins dragged her down to the bottom of the ocean of guilt. There I was forced to watch her drown. Slowly. Painfully. Holding out her hands for me to save her. And yet I could do nothing. Only watch and cry as she vanished into the deep abyss. I was powerless to protect her. A king who is as weak as I am does not deserve to have a queen. No." He shook his head as he lifted his right hand to put it over his face in shame and agony. "I will never allow anyone else to suffer Inori's fate."

Alarmed by this, Ayase quickly took hold of Shu's non-void hand with both of hers.

"I don't care what happens to me, Shu. Whether these chains bind me to you forever and the weight of my crown will be heavy enough to dig into my skin does not matter. I will shed every bit of blood and all the tears I have together with you as long as it means you don't have to do so alone anymore. So please. Make me your queen! Let us bear this burden together!"

A sad smile formed on his lips as he held out his void hand to gently place it on her cheek, slowly brushing a lone tear away that had escaped her eye.

"I am deeply honored by your readiness to go that far, but it is exactly due to this readiness that I cannot allow you to become my queen. Never again will I allow myself to see my queen be forced to pay for my sins. Never again shall anyone ever suffer the same fate as Inori did." He shook his head again slowly. "I did not deserve her love…and neither do I deserve yours."

"Like I give a damn what you think you deserve!" She told him angrily. "I won't just miraculously stop loving you just because you arbitrarily decided you shouldn't have it. And I will never stop fighting for you no matter how hard you try to push me away, you hear me!?" Feeling that he wanted to retract the hand he had put on her cheek, she desperately took hold of it and forced it to remain there.

"Listen, Shu: As long as we both feel the same for each other, there is no reason anything should keep us apart, you understand? Not. A. Thing. Any doubts you have. Any worries that keep resurfacing in your mind. Just push them away. If you can't do that, then just allow me to do that for you. I can put an end to your suffering, so just let me! Don't do this to yourself!"

Shu couldn't help but avert his gaze sadly as he opened the fist that still held her queen piece. Slowly, it reverted back into a rook, then a bishop, a knight and, eventually, back into a pawn, causing Ayase's eyes to widen as she realized what this meant.

"No, Shu! Don't do this!" She shook her head slowly as she saw the pawn sculpture dissolve into several silver threads which eventually returned right back into her chest. Her promotion was being cancelled! It couldn't be!

"I am sorry, Ayase. It's better that way…for the both of us…" He told her sadly, further infuriating her.

"Bullshit! You just keep telling yourself that! I won't have it! If you won't fight for your own happiness, I will fight for the both of us! You won't get rid of me that easily." She declared defiantly to which he offered her a sad look. Eyes so miserable they made her want to cry. For a short second, there appeared to be something that could have been hesitation, but in the end, she could only see pity in them. Strangely enough, it was not for himself, but her. He knew what he was doing was cruel, yet would still rather do this than give her what she wanted. She understood that he really believed the things he just said. That denying her a crown would be the kinder choice compared to actually making her his queen. She couldn't believe this man! Here she was, having faced an unbelievable hardship to get to this point and he…just…tried to send her back?

Like she would ever return!

Unfortunately for her, Shu was aware of her stubbornness and not at all helpless to combat it. He may have been a sad king set on his path of self destruction, but he was a king nonetheless. He still held power over people, so if he wanted Ayase gone, he would know the perfect person for the job.

His void arm began glowing as threads upon threads of dark origin began resurfacing from it. Gradually, they all flew through the air until they began gathering on the empty throne next to him. There, something or rather _someone_ was appearing. Hardly visible at first, like a ghost, but the more dark threads were fed into them, the more visibly they became. Until it was painfully obvious who it had been Shu had summoned.

Pink hair. Crimson eyes. Skin as smooth as silk. Ayase stepped back in utter shock upon witnessing her appearance.

"I-Inori…? H…How?"

The queen in question never responded. In fact, she didn't even look at the pawn at first. Casually she sat on her throne, one leg thrown over the other and letting her head rest on her hand in a bored fashion. She wore a fancy dress befitting of her title, yet strangely enough it was all in black and purple which was at odds of Ayase's memory of the pinkette's usual colorful way of dressing. Even her crown, which was undoubtedly beautiful and impressive, was decorated with rather dark gemstones which didn't befit her very well and offered a stark contrast to her rather bright hair. It was also adorned by many sharp spikes on which she could have easily impaled anyone with, had they only been small enough to fit on them.

Yet all of that aside, perhaps the strangest thing of it all, Ayase thought, was probably the harshness of her eyes. Inori had never been known to be an expressive girl in the least, in fact, for the majority of the time Ayase had had the pleasure of knowing the pinkette, Inori had remained rather expressionless, meeting the world and everyone around her with utmost neutrality. She never did show any form of animosity to anyone she had not been ordered to kill and yet, Ayase could nearly feel the blood in her veins freezing up the moment this girl laid eyes upon her.

There was a red glow in Inori's eyes which further amplified the hostility that was already present in that glare of hers. It was downright terrifying if the brunette pawn had to be perfectly honest. The way Inori looked at her was not like Ayase had ever been looked at by anyone before. That's right, it didn't even feel human at all. Rather than that, it felt more like Ayase was locking eyes with a demon instead. And not just any demon. It was the queen of demons. Such was obvious just from looking at her aura that felt so overbearing for Ayase, it almost seemed as if the queen was emitting dark mist around herself.

Her whole posture was filled with arrogance and superiority. The way she regarded Ayase? It was not unlike someone who only looked down on an insignificant and ugly insect. To this pink haired demon, the pawn was obviously not even worth the oxygen it wasted by merely existing. Normally, such an insulting behavior would have caused Ayase to get irritated, but with someone as menacing as this person, she could do little but feel fear instead.

"No…there is no way you could really be Inori. There is nothing of her to be seen in you…" Ayase realized as she gulped down her nervousness.

The queen, however, could only roll her eyes at that statement as she slowly got up from her throne. With one casual swing of her arms, a crystal blade grew into each of her hands, both of them sharp enough to produce dangerous sounds just from moving through the air. Slowly the pinkette placed herself between her king and the brunette intruder, forcing her to step back.

"What's the meaning of this?" Ayase demanded to know, looking at Inori and Shu repeatedly in hopes of either of them giving her answers.

Shu, however, did nothing to respond. In fact, he didn't seem to even register their presence anymore. He had begun looking down with a painful expression as he kept gritting his teeth in an attempt to bear it. The singer's sword he was holding in his hand was now turning black and was emitting a black flame that began consuming him, yet when Ayase noticed this and attempted to rush to the king's side to help him, she was blocked by that scary Inori who eyed her sternly.

**Look what you did, foolish pawn.**

Ayase gasped upon hearing that voice. Inori's mouth moved normally, yet those words filled the entirety of her mind as if she had yelled right into her ears. It was such a bizarre experience since it sounded like Inori's voice and yet it didn't. Like it was her voice, but something else was added into it. Furthermore, it was so loud, so unbearably oppressive, that there was no way to escape it. It bore itself directly into her brain even if she were to seal her ears off with her hands

There was no way to ignore, to disregard. Only to listen and to endure.

"What I…did?" She asked her confusedly.

**Why did you have to make Shu remember? Why do you have to cause him pain? Unforgivable.**

This made the brunette rather angry. "Cause him pain? I came here to protect him!"

Inori, however, eyed her with nothing but ridicule. With a disregarding hand motion, she seemed to forcefully shove Ayase's words aside.

**Protect him? You? Don't make me laugh. You are nothing but a pawn. You amount to nothing.**

"Which was why I came here to become queen…" Ayase explained to her patiently, only to notice how the pinkette narrowed her eyes at her threateningly.

**You do not have what it takes to be his queen. Now turn around and get back to where you belong or I will make you.**

Ayase drew her blade and pointed it against her adversary defiantly. "I will go nowhere. Being with Shu is my wish. I won't be denied! Not even by you!"

**Then let me show you, the difference in power you can never hope to overcome. I will show you what it means to be his queen!**

Inori's voice was angry, yet her expression remained cold, unfazed as she assaulted her with both her crystal blades. Ayase lifted her sword to block the first strike, only to be nearly knocked off her feet from the sheer force of Inori's blows alone. Shocked as Ayase was, it took everything in her might to not get overwhelmed by her as she relentlessly proceeded to keep hitting Ayase's weapon in quick succession. Her every move was fluent like a dance, yet as devastating as being hit by a car would have been. She was a force of nature, a whirlwind of blades that just never seemed to run out of energy. Gradually, the brunette pawn was forced to retreat backwards, unable to hold her ground. Until she had to realize that Inori had pushed her back all the way to the stairway leading back down.

**Pathetic.**

Without even the slightest sign of exhaustion, the queen finished her barrage of blows with one last strike against Ayase's weapon, finally managing to wear down her blade's durability completely and cutting it in half in a swift motion. Ayase looked at her sword in horror as she was forced to witness its steel falling apart and crumbling to the ground, only realizing now how every strike of the queen had actually seemed to be calculated from the very beginning. Every hit of hers, every blow Ayase had previously thought she had successfully parried, had inevitably turned her sword into a jigsaw puzzle that had been held together by what seemed to be sheer luck alone, only to have its parts finally be released upon the queen's final strike. As the various shards scattered in the air like petals of a wildflower blown away by the wind, some shards grazed Ayase's face and left nasty scratches which only served as further proof of the sharpness the blade had once held. And yet it had done little to prevent Inori from cutting right through it as if it had been made out of paper from the start.

Ayase eyed the woman in front of her with utmost horror as her cold, emotionless crimson eyes continued to stare at her as if looking right through her.

So this was a queen's strength? The power she had yearned for to protect Shu? She had always known it would be enormous, but to finally witness it firsthand…Ayase realized something worrisome:

This power…it was simply _inhuman_.

_Monstrous_.

As those thoughts scurried through her head, Inori merely continued her assault by sending a kick Ayase's way. The brunette pawn cursed as she was able to see the attack coming, yet was forced to admit she was entirely unable to defend against it in time. As the blow connected, Ayase braced for its impact, but could have never expected the sheer force that collided with her body. Since the brunette soldier had had plenty of opportunities in her life as a former terrorist to experience blunt force trauma before, Ayase was fairly confident in her ability to estimate her opponents' raw physical strength and the damage to be expected upon getting hit by them. But where she had initially assumed she could take a hit from the rather frail looking queen without suffering severe damage, Ayase was to be taught otherwise yet again. The queen's kick did not hit her with the force of a mere woman's kick, but was instead filled with the power akin to getting hit by a charging bull.

"Imposs-…!" Ayase couldn't even utter that simple word as all the air in her lungs got squeezed out by that blow alone. Losing contact with the ground, she barely even acknowledged that she had been tossed back into the air before her vision began spinning once she started falling down the stairs. It had felt like an eternity before her world finally had decided to stop turning around itself at the end of her descend. Disoriented as she was, she was not surprised to see three images of Yahiro looking down at her with a face mixed with worry and pity.

"So I suppose it didn't go so well?" He asked her as he looked back up the stairs knowingly.

"You think?" She spat right back at him sarcastically, trying to get the three Yahiros in front of her to finally become one as she shook her head. Her body hurt all over, but fortunately nothing seemed to be broken. Not yet anyway. Catching one final breath, she eventually forced herself back on her feet, feeling some pride when she managed to keep standing on her first try, even if still a bit wobbly due to her dizziness. Before she could lose her balance, Yahiro caught her by the shoulder.

"Easy there, you should probably sit down for a second…"

The pawn, however, would have none of that. Eying the rook sharply, she took hold of both his shoulders before asking him fiercely:

"What _IS_ she, Yahiro?"

The brunette man raised a brow at her. "Who?"

Pointing back up the stairs angrily, Ayase replied: "Inori! Or whatever that thing that looks like her is!"

Yahiro, however, could only massage the back of his neck awkwardly. "She is the queen, obviously."

"A _nightmare_ is what she is!" She told him while grabbing him by his collar. "You said I could become queen!"

"Yeah, but no one said it would be easy…"

**More like impossible.**

Inori's voice loomed over them, causing them to face the stairs once more to see the queen slowly descending them. She had lost her crystal blades in favor of two pistols which she firmly aimed at the queen candidate. Each of her slow steps echoed in the enormous room like the rhythmic ticking of a big wall clock. There was no question of for whom its bell would toll in the end…

Not that Ayase would agree with that, of course. Taking hold of Yahiro's halberd, she quickly yanked it out of his hands.

"Gimme that!"

The big pole weapon felt unfamiliar and heavy in her arms, yet after taking a deep breath and calming her heavy beating heart, it almost felt as if it had become part of her body soon after. Her eyes became wary and her expression calculating. Assuming a defensive position, the pawn waited for an opportunity to strike like a venomous snake ready to go for the kill. Noticing this, Inori couldn't help but nod in acknowledgement.

**You have the eyes of a queen, I'll give you that.**

That was the moment she began unloading a hail of bullets on her.

**But that's hardly enough.**

Ayase, however, managed to remain calm even in the face of certain death. Her eyes flickered red and time seemed to slow down around her. Realizing this, she decided to try her hardest to maintain that glow in her eyes as she proceeded to swing the halberd around as if it had been her weapon of choice for centuries on end. Thanks to this, she eventually managed to deflect all of the incoming bullets right before her eyes began to flicker once more followed by losing the glow. And just like that, the magic was gone and all that remained was an overbearing state of exhaustion. Ayase was trying her hardest to catch her breath as she knelt down weakly, looking down on her hands in disbelief.

"What….was that?" She asked herself.

**It would appear you actually have the qualification to become queen.**

Inori's voice told her, not without some mild surprise lingering somewhere in it.

"Then why won't you let me become one!" Ayase asked her angrily. The queen could only shake her head slowly.

**Having wings qualifies chickens to fly, yet you will never see them roam the skies.**

"Why you…" Gritting her teeth in annoyance, Ayase allowed her fury to become the bravery she needed to overcome her fear of the queen. She stormed forward, weapon ready to strike as she roared her battle cry. Inori, for her part, didn't even attempt to move out of the way. Dropping her pistols, she just boldly walked closer to her enemy, not even seeming to mind the hostile aura Ayase gave off.

Once both women eventually met, from a logical standpoint, you would have expected Ayase to impale her adversary with ease.

However, with frustration Ayase had to learn yet again, that her expectations had been shattered again.

The halberd's blade had been caught by the queen's bare hand. With ease, even! Blood began trickling down Inori's arm as she clenched it firmly, yet such a sight was only a small comfort for Ayase who had realized the weapon would no longer budge under the pinkette's grasp.

"You've got to be kidding me…" Ayase mumbled in quiet disbelief. "That's simply impossible!"

**I have fought armies and found death in the arms of my king. Since then, for every day that had followed, I have had to watch him bear with the loss that came with my selfish actions. My heart screams in anguish as I am forced to watch him suffer alone. I** _ know _ **pain, Ayase. So why did you assume for even just a second that I would fear a mere flesh wound?**

The pinkette just eyed her with pure disinterest as she gestured at her minor injury with her other hand as if all it were to her was a mere annoyance. Then she suddenly grabbed the weapon's handle with her right hand while still holding the blade in her left, causing Ayase to lift her eyebrows in surprise.

**You spoke to Shu about shedding tears and blood, but do you even have any idea what you are trying to get yourself into?**

With no effort whatsoever, Inori simply pulled the weapon as she turned around halfway, effectively pulling Ayase with her since she had failed to let go of the polearm in time. From there, Inori used her unnatural strength to hurl Ayase high up in the air as she failed to keep hold of her weapon and got launched up by the sheer momentum alone. As the queen watched the brunette woman fly away, she casually adjusted her grip on the halberd as if it were a mere javelin. Then she took aim with eyes narrowed down in spite.

**I'll give you a taste.**

"Your majesty, could you perhaps consider not throwing-" Yahiro tried to object with a nervous smile as he realized what she was up to, only to get utterly ignored as she launched his weapon after Ayase anyway. The brunette rook could do little but watch it fly away as his smile turned into a frown.

"-my weapon away…" Welp, he wasn't going to see that thing again anytime soon…

However, before he could even consider complaining about it, Inori had already shot herself into the air by letting a crystal shoot out from the ground beneath her in order to give her a boost. Watching her go chase after Ayase, he could only ruffle his own hair in frustration as he sighed.

"Shu sure is popular with the strange ladies…"

-GC-

Ayase tried to suppress her anger and hatred for her adversary as she watched her floating up next to her, using a set of 6 black wings made of crystals to keep her airborne. A fallen angel of death, if you may.

**Now you have shed first blood for Shu. Soon, tears will follow, too. How does it feel, Ayase? Is it like you expected?**

The pinkette asked the pawn with a knowing look in her eyes, watching as Ayase struggled to even just answer.

"Gugh…" Instead of words, only blood left Ayase's mouth as even just breathing became an ordeal to her. And how could it not be when a freaking halberd was stuck in her chest, pinning her against the ceiling of the massive throne room? Her hands were on the weapon, trying her hardest to prevent gravity to pull her further down and the weapon thus further into herself, but as the weapon got covered in her own blood, so did her grip on it become slippery…

She cried out in pain once her hands slipped.

**I know it hurts. But you will have to know that this is only the tip of the ice berg. Once you become queen, pain like this may become a regular occurrence. Shu will try to shield you from it, but as a result this pain will become his as well. Do you think I will let this happen? To see him be in even more pain? I do not hate you, Ayase. But to protect Shu, I will even kill you, if I have to.**

"Try…me…" The brunette pawn called out to her in defiance, sending nothing but a confident glare her way. Sighing at this like one would do with a child that had said something utterly foolish, Inori merely grabbed Ayase by the throat with her left hand, while yanking out the halberd that pinned her against the ceiling with the other. Ayase winced at the pain, but never lost the resolve in her eyes.

**You still think you can beat me, but we both know…**

She looked down for a second before eying Ayase once more.

**Pride comes before the fall.**

Then she let go.

Given the throne rooms enormous size, a fall from the ceiling was potentially deadly, especially the further down you landed. Ayase was not delusional enough to assume she would survive it, but she had her doubts that this strange "Inori" would actually allow for things to end like this. The brunette might be wrong, but she had the feeling that there was a point the queen wanted to get across. Given their enormous difference in power, if the pinkette really had wished for Ayase's death, she could have ended her right at the very beginning, after all. So Ayase was almost certain she would get caught by her beforehand.

That, however, never happened. And as the ground inevitably approached mercilessly, so did Ayase collide with it.

Her entire body screamed in pain to such an extent that it should have turned her mad and the brunette pawn was almost convinced she was, for she actually believed she was more or less fine as she could already feel the intense pain growing weaker. Agony became horrendous pain, horrendous pain became just pain and even that ended up becoming mere discomfort until even that eventually faded, much to her surprise.

"How am I…still alive…?" She asked herself as she slowly got up and checked her body for injuries that weren't there. Aside from the hole in her armor that merely suggested she might have been stabbed in the chest before, there was _nothing_ there. No stab wound, no broken bones. Nothing.

"As long as we serve the king, he will protect us." Argo's voice told her as he approached her. Ah, so she had landed on his platform. "As long as Shu lives, so do we. But that also works the other way around. If he falls, everybody does."

"Is that so…" Ayase gave herself impressed. She did not flatter herself by claiming she actually understood how this worked or even going as far as to claim it made sense, but if that's how it worked, she would take it. "So this fake Inori can't kill me, right?"

The man frowned, which was the only thing Ayase could actually make up of his face that was hidden under his helmet.

"No, but there are worse things than death, Ayase." He warned her.

**Who are you calling fake, pawn?**

The queen's voice loomed over them as she gracefully landed not far from them, an evil smirk already present on her lips.

"You, obviously." Ayase told her fearlessly.

**Funny. Since I recall you being nothing but an imposter yourself. Even if you were to promote, deep down, you would always be nothing more than a replacement.**

"Like I care as long as Shu's happy. Besides, it can't be worse than what you are doing impersonating Inori."

The evil queen was seen putting a hand on her hips as she looked away in annoyance and clicked her tongue.

**You know nothing of my circumstances, Ayase.**

"Then why not try explaining them for a change?" The brunette woman countered with narrowed eyes.

**What point is there in doing that?** **Where you are going, you don't need to understand. You will go back to be a pawn, oblivious to the king's pain and sorrows and you will move on, living the peaceful life Shu wishes you to have.**

"Who said I will go along with that?" Ayase denied her words fiercely, even smacking them away with her hand. "My path is not for you _or_ Shu to decide. Only me." She pointed at herself determinedly.

**I wish you wouldn't make it so hard on me. I will eventually end up being forced to do things to you even I wouldn't want to do.**

"Is that supposed to scare me?" Inori sighed at Ayase's defiance.

**I suppose not. Fools don't know fear, after all.**

"Oi! You may be the queen, but don't look down on Aya-nee, you meanie!" Tsugumi suddenly yelled from her platform further up, causing everyone to look up to her. Said dark haired bishop then built up some momentum with her right arm, followed by throwing her scepter Ayase's way. "Aya-nee, catch!"

Opening up her eyes in surprise, Ayase caught the object with little effort only to hear Tsugumi cheer her on soon after.

"Show her who's boss!"

Hearing that, Ayase could do little but grin confidently as she closed her eyes to thank her best friend silently. When she opened them up again, they glowed in a bright red.

Despite never having used a bishop's scepter before, she immediately knew what to do, so with no further ado, she raised it high in the air. At first, nothing seemed to happen, but then, slowly but gradually, the various scattered pieces of the destroyed crystal golem all around Argo's platform began moving magically. One after another, they lifted themselves into the air and began reconstructing themselves into the heavy Endlave Ayase had bested earlier. Once she was done with casting her magic, the crystal replica was as good as new and ready to receive her orders.

And so Ayase cast her scepter forward, telling her construction to march towards its new enemy.

If Inori was impressed by Ayase's handiwork, she sure as hell never showed it. All she did was narrow her eyes as she lifted both her arms next to her, summoning countless crystal chunks out of thin air herself. Once she was done, she directed her right hand at the golem, thus launching the levitating debris directly at it.

But that did not faze Ayase in the slightest. As she waved Tsugumi's scepter around, the golem produced a shield on its left arm and pushed forward as it brushed off the queen's heavy barrage. Noticing that it wouldn't work, Inori thus resummoned her blades and engaged in close quarter combat. Swiftly she danced around the tall but slow golem, riddling it with slashes and cuts wherever she went, undoubtedly trying to hack it into pieces not unlike she had done with Ayase's sword earlier, but this time, Ayase knew what she was doing and so any damage Inori was trying to inflict was already repaired sooner than it could take effect.

Once she saw that, Inori gave up on it soon afterwards, too. As she continued to dodge the golem's attacks, the pinkette eventually decided that, if she couldn't destroy the Endlave, she could instead just go for the one controlling it. And so she dove for Ayase directly who appeared to be wide open once Inori had managed to actually get past her crystal bodyguard. However, Ayase, having fought the crystal monster herself before, naturally already knew of that weakness as the thought of attacking Tsugumi directly had formed in her head back then as well. Just because she hadn't acted on it out of concern she might have ended up having to hurt her friend didn't mean she was oblivious to the existence of that weakness. And so she swiftly moved her scepter and ordered the golem to fall apart into various crystal pieces yet again. The countless chunks of crystals then proceeded to fly back to her and whirl around her in a protective barrier, thus shielding her from the queen's attack.

After Inori had been forced to abandon her assassination attempt, Ayase promptly ordered the crystals to reassemble into her golem that protectively placed itself between her and her adversary, towering over Inori threateningly.

"Well? How do you like that, huh?" Tsugumi yelled, visibly proud of her best friend being able to stand her ground against the queen this time.

**A futile struggle.**

Inori merely stated as she let the blades in her hand shatter apart as she shook her head slowly.

"So are you finally giving up?" Ayase wanted to confirm as she eyes the queen warily.

**A queen never gives up. I had just hoped I could avoid going this far…**

Inori said, sounding somewhat bitter about the situation. She was then seen stretching out her right hand to her side, followed by looking up into the direction where the throne Shu still sat on was. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, but then, gradually, more and more silver threads descended from above, gathering at her hand and forming something. A weapon. A sword.

Her void.

"H-hey, hold on! How can you…!" Ayase wanted to object when the queen had already swung the blade in a flash. Despite being clearly out of reach, the silver threads that shot out of the blade flew faster than anyone of them could have even seen them. If it hadn't been for Ayase's glowing eyes, she might have entirely missed them, in fact. Little did it matter since there had been nothing she could have done to avoid or defend against the strike. Its overwhelming offensive capability cut through the golem in one swift hit, causing the upper half to slowly slide off of its lower half. And just like that, Ayase's golem was destroyed.

The brunette's glowing eyes flickered once more as her power left her. By the time the glow had vanished, she was already on her knees, gasping for air. Meanwhile, Inori calmly and steadily approached, obviously in no rush to reach the exhausted pawn.

**Are we done here at last? Will you give up now?**

But Ayase, still gasping, only looked up to her and said: "A queen…never gives…up…"

This, for some reason, made Inori smile in approval, even if just momentarily.

**Maybe you wouldn't make a bad queen, after all. Just not Shu's.**

"Why…" Ayase gritted her teeth and clenched her fists in anger, looking down at the ground in frustration. "Why can't I be Shu's?"

**Because…nobody wants you to turn into…this.**

Was Inori's reasoning. Ayase, naturally, didn't understand what she meant by _this_ so she looked up in hope of fixing that problem, only to open up her eyes in horror at what she actually ended up seeing.

Before her stood _something._ Something that in its rough shape _might_ have resembled Inori…once, but had ended up being a sick joke that had gone against all laws of nature itself. Yes, indeed, in front of her stood Inori, yet you would hardly be able to tell with how much her body had been taken over by crystals. Hardly anything was left of her, save for parts of her face and the left side of her body. The right side had almost entirely been consumed by the virus. What made the sight even worse was that there were gaping holes where there should have been essential parts of her body. It was a wonder she could even stand upright at all. Maybe that was why her whole stance was shaky, as if even just keeping her balance without falling over was hard for Inori to pull off.

And yet, despite all these horrible things Ayase saw, perhaps the most shocking thing she made out were her eyes. So devoid of light, it was obvious Inori was no longer seeing anything with them, despite clearly looking right at her. These eyes…

They were like Shu's eyes.

"What is…this…?" Ayase barely managed to produce words in face of all this.

**This was me before I died. An image that has been burned into Shu's memory. An image I couldn't erase even after all the years of trying.**

"How…horrible. I am…so sorry…" The pawn voiced her sincere feelings and lifted a hand to place it on her shoulder comfortingly, yet retracted it almost immediately in fear of actually breaking her accidentally. A thought that wasn't surprising her in the least, given how fragile she looked now.

Ayase couldn't imagine the pain Inori must have had gone through in her final moments…or Shu's for that matter. He had never really spoken in detail about what had really happened that day and now she finally understood why. If every time he was asked he would have to remember this sight, it was no wonder he would want to avoid speaking about it. Heck, even Ayase felt grief at seeing Inori like this, and she hadn't even been remotely as close to the pinkette as Shu had been. This was a fate you wouldn't even wish upon your worst enemies, let alone your lover. It was just too cruel.

"Is this why you are…" Behaving like such a bitch right now. Ayase forced herself to gulp that thought down. This weird version of Inori was annoying, yes, but if _that_ had been the reason, the brunette could somewhat understand it…

Yet, to her surprise, Inori only slowly shook her head as she lifted her crystalline arm to look at it. Her eyes were broken, there was no doubt about it, but could she perhaps still see regardless? Maybe because this was some sort of illusion?

**I never particularly cared about this. By the time I had turned out like this, I had already been attempted to be erased by Gai before. I had already accepted death. In fact, hearing Shu's voice one last time was a nice consolation.**

The queen told her with a sad smile as she transformed back into her original form.

"That's a lie…there is no way you could have been fine with this…"

Inori eyed her sternly, but eventually gave in with closed eyes.

**Well, of course I would have preferred a different outcome. Sometimes I catch myself thinking about what could have been. Witnessing a future that never was meant to be.**

She shook her head dismissively.

**Nothing but pointless dreams.**

"How can you say that…" Ayase asked her, shocked at those words. "Our dreams are what make us human."

**Being human…It was something I was fascinated with. There was so much I wanted to learn. So much more I wanted Shu to teach me. If it was him, I am sure he would have been able to turn this monster into a proper girl.**

She sighed at herself. When Ayase looked at her disapprovingly, a knowing smirk crept up her lips.

**Oh spare me, Ayase. Do you think I wouldn't know what people thought of me? What you thought of me when you saw me appearing on that throne just now? It was written all over your face.**

Looking away in an attempt to hide her guilt, Ayase replied: "To be fair, you _are_ quite menacing the way you are now. I never used to think that way of you before."

**You just didn't know me. Nobody did. Not even I did. By the time I had figured out who I was, I was already lost.** **But that was fine.** **Monster or human, it didn't even matter. All I needed to know was that I was me. Shu's queen that would become whatever she needed to be in order to protect him. That's why…**

She narrowed down her eyes as she directed the singer's sword at her threateningly and nudged her head towards the stairs leading down to the pawn platform. This caused the brunette to furrow her brows at her in defiance.

"Don't even bother. I won't ever go back there, so the only way for you to get me down there is for you to step over my dead body."

To her surprise, Inori actually lowered her weapon at this, although with a heavy sigh.

**Fine then. Hard way it is.**

Before Ayase could even raise a brow at her in wonder, with a mere click of Inori's fingers, crystal roots began sprouting all around the unfortunate pawn, effectively binding her in place. The roots crawled up her legs and wrapped themselves around her arms next. In a matter of seconds, she was completely trapped and no amount of force she was able to muster was enough to break her free again. Seeing this, the queen just casually approached her, letting go of her void in favor of creating a long, blunt crystal in her right hand.

"My queen, could you perhaps reconsider? Going that far is a bit…" Argo finally decided to butt in as he eyed Ayase worriedly. This got even Ayase slightly nervous since it had to be quite serious if even the overly serious Argo was getting nervous about something. Inori, however, didn't even look into his general direction as she continued to approach Ayase.

**I tried being reasonable. It failed. She has nobody but herself to blame for this.**

"Stop! I won't let you!" Now Tsugumi was seen running down the stairs, placing herself in front of Ayase with both her hands stretched out to her side protectively. "This is going too far, even for you!"

**Step aside, bishop. Or you are next right after her.**

Inori's eyes narrowed down on her coldly, yet the dark haired woman didn't budge, although she couldn't quite hide the fear in her eyes, either.

"I…I don't care!"

**I have no time for games…**

With a dismissive wave of her hand, a thick crystal vein shot out of the ground next to Tsugumi and effortlessly pushed her to the side before shattering apart again. Argo was quick to run to her side to check up on her, but Ayase could already see from her position that Tsugumi had been knocked out cold with just that simple move alone.

"Is this how a queen should treat her followers, huh?" Ayase spat at her in fury, nudging her head into Tsugumi's direction.

**Nothing would have happened if she hadn't gotten in the way. Nothing would be happening to you, either, had you just followed my order. It's because you all think you can do whatever the hell you want that things always end up being a mess.**

"If you wouldn't behave so irrationally, maybe people would actually follow you for a change."

Inori came to a halt in front of her, eying her coldly as ever.

**For the record, I don't particularly like doing things this way. But I will do what needs to be done to protect Shu. That's what it means to be queen.**

"I think you might have lost sight of what's really important about queenship, _your majesty_." Ayase told her with gritted teeth.

**Oh, so now a pawn wants to lecture me. How very rich.**

Inori said with a shrug that clearly showed her disinterest, followed by gripping the crystal club with both hands and slowly pulling it back to build up momentum for her next strike.

"Wait, what are you…" Ayase demanded to know with wide open eyes when Inori already struck. Mercilessly and without any sign or hesitation, she smacked the club against Ayase's left knee with enough force to make even the club shatter on impact, let alone Ayase's unfortunate bones. The poor pawn's horrible cries echoed all over the throne room while Inori merely reconstructed the broken club in her hand to mirror her earlier move on her other leg.

**Quit whining. The pain will fade soon.**

Inori said before eventually striking again, which caused Ayase to break out in tears, unable to bear the pain. It was so intense, so overwhelming, that she couldn't even form thoughts for a second. Her entire mind was preoccupied with one simple thing: Agony.

However, true to Inori's words, the pain was quick to fade again as the healing aura of the king embraced her. From one moment to the next, she felt being embraced by his warm, caring light as if he himself was putting his arms around her. And just like that, the pain was gone as if it had never been there to begin with.

However, something didn't feel right still.

Eying the queen with a mixture of hatred and confusion, she eventually asked:

"What the hell did you do that for when you knew it would get healed anyway? Just to torture me?"

Inori let go of the remains of her broken club and closed her eyes knowingly as she shook her head.

**My goal is not to torture you but to make sure you will never bother climbing up to Shu again.**

"Didn't I tell you that I won't stop trying until I am dead?"

**If that's so, let's see you standing up.**

The queen dared her with an evil smile, followed by shattering the shackles that still kept Ayase in place. Tiredly, the pawn fell to the floor, but when she tried standing up again to show the pinkette her resolve, she was shocked to notice that her legs would no longer heed the commands of her brain. Now visibly panicked, she opened up her eyes and began inspecting her legs. From the outside, everything appeared to have healed well. There was not a scratch to be seen on them. Even the bones were healed…

"So why…why won't they move anymore…?" She asked in utter despair, trying to get her legs to move again. To no avail.

**Even if you ask why, wasn't this how it's always been?**

"What are you saying…it was fine just now!"

**Ah, Shu appears to have forgotten that you were once paralyzed. I made him remembers and fix that flaw. Now you are closer to your true self. Do you feel queenly now, crawling on the floor like that?**

The pinkette explained to her with a dark smile as she squatted down next to her, leaning her head against her hand casually. Seeing this, something inside Ayase snapped. Her eyes shot open and began glowing in a bright red and, similarly to the queen in front of her, a dark mist began embracing her.

"How about I remind him **that you are dead? Will you vanish into oblivion, too?"**

Inori, however, only laughed amusedly with closed eyes.

**Now wouldn't you like that, huh? But why leave it to him? I am right here in front of you. Why don't you try killing me now?**

The brunette pawn didn't seem to think rationally anymore as her hatred for this woman in front of her made her see nothing but red. Had a bit of her rationality remained, surely she would have realized this bait for what it had been instead of falling for it hook, line and sinker. Desperately and in pure rage, Ayase kept attempting to grab the monstrous queen that had dared do this to her, but every time she stretched out her arms at her, the pinkette merely decided to dodge by distancing herself from her ever so slightly as if it was a mere game to her. Naturally, Ayase couldn't keep up, having to crawl forward whenerver Inori decided to make baby steps backwards.

**Wow, you almost got me there, I am so very scared.**

" **I HATE you."** Ayase growled at her, never ceasing her pitiful and futile assault. **"Why couldn't you have stayed dead!"**

**I wonder.** Inori mused playfully before deciding she had ridiculed the pawn enough for now. **My turn now.**

She had barely finished declaring that when her right hand shot forward and grabbed Ayase by the hair, lifting her up brutally, yet with no effort whatsoever. The brunette pawn screamed in pain, but never ceased to eye her adversary darkly.

**With this, I have shown you the difference in our strength. Pawns should just keep to themselves. Do not attempt to climb up to Shu's level ever again, do you understand?**

Ayase spit in her face.

" **Fuck. You. How about that?"**

**I'll take that as a yes. Farewell, Ayase.**

And with that, Inori threw her backwards as if merely discarding a bag of trash for the garbage men to collect. Ayase could do little but rolling down the stairway, unable to lose momentum in any way until she eventually hit the floor once more to come to a halt. As she lied there on her back, arms stretched out to either side, she merely turned her head to either side to realize where she had ended up now. The pawn's platform. The lowest floor. Her point of origin. She was right back where she had started. As realization of her failure crept up to her, so did frustration manifest in her heart and, unable to resist it, she clenched her fists, closed her eyes and sent out a loud and bitter cry into her surroundings, filling the enormous room with nothing but her screams once more. Hearing this, Inori nodded in satisfaction and turned around, deciding that her job here was finally done.

" **You will become queen, he said. You have the qualification, he said."** Ayase growled to herself angrily. With her eyes still glowing red, she forced her pawn piece to appear in her hand, starring down on it hatefully. **"Bullshit. THIS is all I will ever be. Why did I ever even BOTHER!"**

With nothing but disappointment, she threw the pawn piece that had lost all worth to her away with as much force as she could muster, followed by burying her face in her arms and letting out the tears she could no longer hold back.

_Now that's not like you at all…to give up like that._

She heard a voice again. Like Inori's it was inescapable no matter how much she tried to seal her ears and ignore them, but it wasn't as forceful and oppressing as before. Rather than that, it sounded more akin to bells or maybe small crystalline fragments hitting each other ever so slightly to slowly and gently play away and create a harmonic symphony that was supposed to bring you peace of mind. However, little did it help to calm Ayase's head that was filled with nothing but chaotic thoughts.

As the brunette pawn was lifting her head that now felt heavy to her from all her tiredness, she realized with her blurry vision that in front of her stood the pinkette queen yet again.

" **You again. What do you want this time? Haven't you had enough beating the crap out of me? Leave me alone already."**

_I can't do that. I need you to get up there again and save Shu. You are the only one who can do that._

She had the nerve to tell her, causing Ayase to stare at her in utter disbelief.

" **Haaaah? First you kick me all the way back here and then you want me to get up there again? Are you mocking me?"** This had to be a joke. Who did this girl think she was? Just because Ayase was a pawn didn't mean this pinkette bully could do with her whatever the hell she-

Wait a second. After blinking a few times and allowing her blurry vision to become sharp again, the broken pawn noticed that, although the person in front of her most certainly was Inori, she somehow still looked different from before. For one, her dress was all pink and white and she had lost the dark mist following her around in favor of attaining some sort of soft light that radiated all around her. Not strong enough to blind you, but still enough to be noticeable. Even her crown was more neat now, having traded all these sharp, dark spikes for a more humble yet elegant tiara that would have barely even stood out from her hair, had it not been sparkling due to all the diamonds embedded into it.

The best part about this Inori, however? Her eyes didn't glow as menacing as the other one's did. Instead of regarding Ayase with nothing but coldness and hostility, this one was looking at her with kind and gentle eyes. No malice was to be found in them. That's when it finally clicked in Ayase's head.

She had immediately deemed the other Inori a fake as soon as she had seen her, so maybe this meant…

" **Are you, perhaps, the real Inori this time?"** She wondered.

To her surprise, however, this Inori could only shake her head with a conflicted looking smile.

_To say either of us is real or fake is hard as we are both and neither at the same time. Rather than saying we are fake or real, you could say we are both two halves of what makes us whole._

" **Am I supposed to get that?"** Ayase told her with a frown which caused the pinkette to smile softly.

_I would be surprised if you understood it with just that._

" **So are you gonna explain it to me, or are we doing things the cryptic way like your evil twin just did?"** The pawn couldn't help but growl as she remembered the other Inori and all the hatred that came along with it. The white queen in front of her, however, didn't seem to mind that at all as she merely brought both her hands together behind her back cutely.

_I could try, if you want. It might be a bit hard to grasp, though._

" **Try me."** Inori was seen clapping her hands together in front of her excitedly this time, giving her a determined grin.

_Alright. Leave it to me._

This made the pawn narrow her eyes at her suspiciously.

" **You are right. You aren't like the real Inori was, either. Not even close."** Hearing this, Inori could do little but blow up her cheeks in disdain as she put both her fists on each side of her hips.

_How rude. Do you want to know or not?_

Sighing at her in defeat, Ayase gestured for her to go on, thus effectively erasing Inori's pout form existence in favor of bringing out her smile once more.

_So, as you may know, I am dead. Or should be, more or less. Right?_

The pawn nodded slowly. **"I was shown your final state by the other you. I felt sorry for you then, but I am not sure I still am now, considering what she had done to me…"**

For some reason, Inori was seen attempting to hide a blush with her hands as she looked at Ayase with shocked eyes. Yep, this Inori was definitely fake as well.

_She showed you that? Sheesh, how unnecessary. But since you already know, it might be easier to imagine how hopeless my survival was._

" **I guess…"** Ayase agreed with her with a shrug.

_Right, so, after Shu saw that, he decided that he would die with me, so he used his void to assume all the bad around him to take it down with him and join me in death. However, I am not sure whether or not he intentionally did it, but he ended up assuming my soul as well. And that opened up_ possibilities _for me, you see?_

Now Ayase was finally seen raising one of her brows in interest. **"What kind of possibilities?"**

Inori hid her hands behind her back again and grinned proudly.

_As the virus ravaged us, there was hardly anything left of us in the end. There was no doubt we would die, but that's when I thought: "I don't want Shu to die." So I kept thinking about a way to save him. Now, you have to understand that at this point, nearly nothing was left of us anymore. My body had nearly been nonexistent from the start and Shu's soul was being ripped apart by all the hearts he had assumed in order to cleanse them off the virus. But then it dawned on me. If his soul needed to be restored and I lacked a body anyway, why not use each other to heal the broken parts?_

Ayase merely blinked at her in utter confusion as she tilted her head ever so slightly.

"… **.What…?"**

_It sounds weird, I know, but I saw Shu fusing voids together to create better ones, and voids are basically souls, so what if I used mine to fix his broken one? It should have worked in theory, right?_

" **That's insane…are you saying you fused with Shu in order to save him?"**

She gave Ayase her brightest smile in response.

_Exactly! My soul became the glue that kept his shattered one from falling apart. You would not believe how happy I was once I realized it worked!_

" **But what does that mean for you, then…? Are you dead or alive?"**

Inori scratched her head in confusion.

_Both and neither? I mean, my soul lives on in Shu, but my body is long gone, so…_

" **Madness…"** Ayase couldn't help but mumble to herself, unable to believe her ears, but then she had to lower her gaze in silent acknowledgment. **"Then again, it would explain why you are still around. But why are there two of you?"**

Inori laughed awkwardly as she scratched her cheek.

_Well, since I am just a soul and not limited to a body, I am basically just a collection of emotions and thoughts which could be split apart and put together however you like. There is light and darkness inside everyone, and that's exactly the problem for Shu. You see, he assumed all of me, which means he assumed both, my light but also my darkness. That, in itself, isn't bad. But ever since I died, Shu ended up being depressed about it and seeing him like that ended up making me sad as well. This fed my negativity and caused it to become stronger. And since my darkness is now also his darkness, it naturally ended up affecting him as well._

" **That sounds like a vicious cycle, though. Shu gets depressed about your death which makes you sad, which makes your darkness grow and feed into his own darkness which will only make him more depressed in return."**

Inori nodded strongly at that, visibly excited that Ayase understood what she was apparently trying to make her understand.

_That's exactly it! So, if left to our own devices, Shu will eventually end up feeding into my negativity which will in return make him sink deeper into darkness. I can't let that happen which is why I had hoped you would help me save Shu._

Hearing this, Aysse had to avert her gaze in shame. **"I already tried that. It was no good."**

The queen frowned at that.

_That doesn't sound like the Ayase I know at all. Are you sure it isn't my negativity that has ended up affecting you as well?_

" **Well, your goddamn negativity is a damn bitch, let me tell you that."** Ayase growled at her angrily which caused the queen to sigh.

_Well, naturally. She is meant to be ugly since she is the manifestation of everything bad about me. If we were to split your soul in two, no doubt yours would be quite a handful, too._

"… **.I wanna kill her."**

_Yeah, see. That's not like you at all. You are supposed to be incorruptible, no? That's what makes you so perfect in Shu's eyes, does it not?_

This made Ayase close her eyes in disappointment and guilt. **"Shu…I failed him…"**

_Not yet. The only way you could fail him is if you give up on him. So stand up, Ayase. Stand up and fight._

The pawn looked up to her with teary eyes, clearly willing to fight yet also lost about the how. **"I can't. Not anymore. I can't win against your darkness."** She looked down in sadness. **"I can't become queen…"**

_Well, naturally. You are missing something crucial._

Inori mused as she brought a finger to her lips, followed by looking around for something. Once she eventually spotted whatever it was she was searching for, she went over to it and picked it up. Following that, she returned with said item while carefully brushing off any dust that could have gotten on it.

_There you go. How could Shu possibly promote you when you don't have your pawn piece with you?_

She told her cheerfully as she handed the object over to Ayase's hesitant hands.

" **But he doesn't want to promote me…"** She told her worriedly while looking down on the chess piece she carefully had taken back from the queen. This made Inori blow up her cheeks once more.

_Well naturally, since my stupid ugliness decided to interfere. But don't worry. This time, I will help you out. Once we get rid of her, Shu will finally see reason again. So, Ayase, what do you say? Shall we go save our king together?_

She held out her hand for Ayase to grab with a smile that radiated confidence and inspiration. The brunette pawn could almost feel her own negative thoughts getting blown away from her purifying smile alone.

" **But** I **ca** n't wa **lk** any **more. H** ow **wi** ll we **cli** m **b** up **agai** n?" The red glow in her eyes flickered.

_How odd. I can't recall that ever having stopped you before?_

Inori told her with a playful grin, which caused Ayase's eyes to widen up in realization. That was…true, wasn't it? When had not being able to walk ever been an excuse for her to give up? So what if she had a handicap to deal with? She would make up for it with putting in twice the effort. She was Ayase motherfucking Shinomiya. She had beaten the most notorious Endlave pilot in history in combat. She had helped bringing down a corrupt government. She had played her part in preventing the apocalypse.

She was Shu's pawn.

She would fight for him until she drew her last breath.

The red glow in her eyes faded completely as confidence returned to take its place. The dark mist that had surrounded her let go of her soon after. Darkness had no hold over her. Ayase Shinomiya was, after all, incorruptible.

She was perfect.

And thus, with a big and confident grin, she took hold of Inori's hand and said: "Let's go and save our dumbass of a king."

_Spoken like a true queen._

Ayase did not know what she expected to happen when she took the queen's hand but what she most certainly had not expected was her void to suddenly appear on her legs in a bright flash out of nowhere.

"Wha…how?" Her surprise was met with a cheeky grin from the pinkette.

_Shu and I are basically one, so I might have borrowed his power a bit here. Is that cheating, what do you think?_

Ayase, for her part, only hugged the queen in excitement. "Right on, Inori! Like this, I can actually fight again!"

_Then shall we go?_

Nodding at that, the brunette pawn smirked as she turned around and gestured for the queen to hold onto her. "Hold on tight, your majesty. We are going fast."

_How exciting._

The queen giggled as she wrapped her arms around Ayase thightly. As soon as the pawn had confirmed that Inori was ready to go, she gave her void the mental command to lift off with quite a blast. Not only were they airborne in a matter of seconds, they were also reaching quite the speed, too. It was because of that, that it came to nobody's surprise that they were quick to catch up to the dark Inori who was currently ascending the stairway to the rook's platform without a care in the world.

Ayase couldn't quite withhold a mischievous smirk looked down on her unsuspecting prey from above. She could hardly contain the anticipation of finally getting back on her for all the things she had made her go through. Now, it was payback time.

_Ready when you are._

"I was born ready."

And with that, she dove down on her victim like a hawk, ready for the kill.

"Guess who's back, idiot queen!"

The evil queen had barely enough time to turn around in surprise when she was already colliding headfirst with the pawn's fist. Since Ayase had been crashing down with quite some speed, the force of the impact alone knocked her back hard enough to make her smash into the stairs behind her.

**Urgh…how!?**

She grunted angrily as she wiped away some blood that had begun leaking out of her bruised lip. When she saw Ayase floating in her own void, her eyes grew wide.

**Impossible…you shouldn't have been able to get that, unless…**

That was the moment the other Inori landed on top of her darker half after having jumped off of Ayase right after she had struck their adversary. Grinning cheekily, she asked:

_Hiya! Missed me?_

**You…!**

Visibly angered, the evil version of the queen was quick to kick her other half off her. However, the brighter Inori merely dodged the attack by jumping away beforehand, landing next to Ayase elegantly.

**Traitor! You would side with the enemy?**

_Enemy? She is our greatest ally! We need her to keep Shu save!_

**Wrong! No one but us understands Shu. Only we can protect him! So quit your stupid actions and come back with me.**

She held out her hand for the other Inori to take. The latter, however, only looked down and distanced herself from her more in refusal.

_That's what we have been doing for years and it isn't helping. It's time for change._

The darker Inori was visibly hurt about her pendant's unwillingness to cooperate. As she looked down, it became hard to see her face from how her hair began obstructing it. However, from the way her fists began trembling in fury and how the dark mist that surrounded her got even denser, it was fairly obvious she was more than just furious now.

**If you are not with me, you are against me. If you are against me, you are an enemy. All enemies shall be PURGED!**

She resummoned the singer's sword into her right hand.

_No! Can't you see your actions are corrupting Shu!? Stop filling his heart with your darkness!_

**Silence, traitor! If you won't protect Shu with me, I will do so on my own! I DON'T NEED YOU!**

With that, Inori's negativity charged forward to strike at Ayase directly. The brunette was already attempting to dodge when her ally was already in front of her, catching the blade inbetween both her hands.

_I won't let you destroy our only hope!_

Ayase was impressed at the positivity's strength to catch the blade with bare hands. That's the queen for you! However, her strength seemed to wane as soon as the dark Inori began putting in more force. The allied Inori was losing ground now. Ayase frowned in determination. Not on her watch.

Flying behind the hostile Inori that was currently preoccupied with trying to overwhelm her pendant, Ayase gathered all her strength and put it into one kick she directed against the negativity's head.

**Gah! Such insolence! Wait for your turn, pawn!**

Clearly irritated at having received her blow, the evil queen was quick to retaliate with one of her own kicks that connected with Ayase's stomach with enough force to send her flying way back.

_Gotcha!_

Using the distraction Ayase had provided her with, the kind queen forcefully yanked the blade out of her adversary's hands and wasted not a single second to swing it at her. However, even with the void in her hands, it was quite obvious that her darker pendant was far from done for. Letting a crystal blade grow into each of her hands, she commenced to parry every strike against her until both queens found themselves stuck in yet another deadlock. It became quite obvious that Inori's negativity was stronger than her positivity, which meant that even with the advantage of wielding her own void, the kind queen was still only just evenly matched with her opponent at best. There was no hope of either of them besting the other one.

**Now what? Will we both be stuck in combat forever while we watch Shu perish without our support? Is that what you want?**

_All I want is for Shu to become happy!_

**Idiot! Do you think I don't want that? But just because we want it, doesn't mean it is possible. That's not the kinda world we live in! Happiness does not exist for either of us!**

_It may not exist for us, but Shu still has a chance! That's why…_

The kind queen gave one final push and forced her enemy back long enough for her to throw the singer's sword into Ayase's direction who had barely enough time to catch not only herself but the weapon as well, looking down on it in shock. The power that surged from it was downright…unbearable. She felt like merely holding it would tear her apart. How could these women actually manage to keep using it? How could Shu have in the past?

… _I am willing to bet everything I have on her._

She finished her sentence with a smile before growing crystal blades of her own and facing her pendant once more.

**Fool! That will be the last mistake you will ever make! She will doom us all!**

_What difference does it make? If she fails, Shu will fall into darkness and if we do nothing, our darkness will push Shu into it regardless. Having faith in her is the only way._

**Never! I won't let this happen! We are his queen, not her. It is our job. Our burden! I won't allow anyone else to take it from us!**

The fight between the queens grew fiercer as both of them got so fast that Ayase could barely even keep up with their moves with her eyes. All she ever saw was flashes of light whenever crystal blades met and occasionally, she was able to see both queens for a brief second whenever they ended up in another deadlock. It was just insane! Holding the singer's sword in her hands, Ayase knew that she would only have enough strength in her to swing it just one time. All she had was one shot, and even that chance might eventually be taken from her if she waited for too long, since the void's extreme power was draining her from just wielding it. That was exactly the reason why she grew nervous the longer the fight kept raging on without her intervention. She couldn't get impatient and strike early, but she couldn't afford waiting for too long, either.

But then, finally, she heard the sound of crystal shattering apart, followed by both queens taking hold of each other's hands to prevent the other one from creating new weapons to use in them. An opening! Ayase's grip on the queen's void fastened as she forced herself to gulp down whatever nervousness she still held in her heart. This wasn't the time for hesitation or doubt. If all she had was this shot, she would have to strike true with nothing but confidence and resolve. She could do it. She HAD to do it. For her sake. For Inori's sake.

For Shu's sake.

She gave her void the command to advance.

**Who cares if Shu will destroy the world? It never deserved him in the first place. The only thing that matters is that he lives!**

_Idiot! Do you think he could ever become happy in a world in which he is the only one left? He will grow even more miserable! What good is being alive when there is no love?_

**Nobody could love him the way we did anyway. Nobody could understand him even when we were still with him! That's why having faith in others is just foolish. They are bound to let you down in the end! Everyone betrayed him, just like you betrayed me. That's why I will do it myself!**

_Then you are dooming Shu! I won't let that happen!_

"I vow to you both, that I will take responsibility! I will make sure that Shu finds happiness, so just rest assured and give me your blessing! I need to become queen!" Ayase declared as she approached both of them head on.

**I will protect-**

_I will protect-_

"I will protect-"

**Shu!** _Shu!_ "Shu!"

They clashed. Ayase was sure they had, at least. The reason she couldn't tell for sure, was the fact that as soon as they had met, a gleaming light had engulfed them all. For what seemed to be an eternity, Ayase kept floating in a space of pure white with neither of the pinkettes to be seen anywhere. All that accompanied her was her void that still kept her afloat in the air, the singer's sword that still rested in her hand, now powerless, and the tiredness that had befallen her from merely swinging it once.

She could no longer hear the sounds of battle, at least, which she assumed was a good sign. All that was to be heard were faint sounds of crystal shards hitting each other gently. Now that she thought about it, perhaps the sparkling things she could make out in this white space had been small crystal shards all along. As she was wondering to herself what could have possibly happened when the three of them had clashed just now, she soon after realized she had become too tired to even think about it. With how peaceful it now was all around her, she seriously felt like just falling asleep here and resting up for a bit.

Alas, that was not to happen, as the various crystal shards around her began gathering up rapidly The brunette pawn wondered if they were getting put together to build or rebuild something again, but was unable to see what it was before the gleaming light returned and robbed her of her vision yet again. When she opened up her eyes again, she was standing on the throne room's highest platform once more.

"I am back." She said softly and with a weak smile, almost like a whisper, clearly not strong enough to even speak up any louder anymore. She felt the strength of her knees leave her and was forced to use the singer's sword as a crutch in order to not fall over.

There was no "Welcome home." to greet her back, even though she kind of had hoped for it. But that was not because Shu was refusing to greet her that way…it was more due to the fact that he couldn't.

The entire platform was engulfed in dark flames with Shu's throne in the center of it all. The man himself appeared to be unresponsive, only looking down on his empty hands as if lamenting his loss over something that no longer was resting in them. His face was twisted due to pain to such an extent that it broke Ayase's heart just looking at it. The pawn looked down on the singer's sword in her hand, then back to Shu and immediately knew what she had to do. However, the flames that surrounded him were scorching hot even from a distance. They were sure to burn everything that touched them into a crisp.

But even so…

Her expression became resolved as she steeled herself for the path she had decided upon. There was only one legitimate one, after all.

Forward.

She took her first step, still using the singer's sword as support. The sound of its crystal blade hitting the floor rung loudly on the throne room, being accompanied only by the sound of her void-covered feet steps that followed right after. Somewhere in the back of Ayase's mind, she had to chuckle because of this. It was as if Inori was leading the way for her to take. Even when she was no longer around, she was still telling her to go on, huh?

Clang.

Step.

Clang.

Step.

Clang.

Step.

The noise eventually managed to reach Shu, who decided to slowly lift his heavy head. Through the thick flames, all his strained eyes could make out was the silhouette of a woman slowly getting closer with unsteady feet. An image that had already burned itself into his vision many years ago.

"I…nori…?" He asked quietly.

"Not quite, Shu. Although you could say she is with me." Ayase responded, never stopping her approach.

"Ayase…?" He blinked and forced his eyes to focus. Sure enough, it was not the broken state of Inori covered in crystals approaching him like it always did whenever he thought back to his past, it was Ayase this time, approaching him and the flames that surrounded him. That's when his eyes widened up in realization of what she was doing and from one moment to the next, his tiredness got blown away as worry befell him.

"What are you doing!? Can't you see the fire? Don't come any closer! You will get burned!" He warned her.

"Is that so…?" Ayase asked with a smile as she came to a halt one step away from entering the dark flames. Sure enough, the heat alone was almost unbearable. Yet, even despite that, Ayase couldn't help but look into the flame with quite some fondness in her eyes. Sure, it was hot, but it was also beautiful. Ah, how even more beautiful the flames would become if only they weren't all black. Slowly, as if ensnared, she lifted her right hand to touch the flames only to realize her glove was catching fire immediately, yet she didn't cry out in the least. Retracting her hand, she just watched the fire eat away on the fabric that her glove was made of, realizing that the fire that it fueled was no longer black.

It was white.

That was all Ayase needed in terms of motivation to move forward. And so she did, much to Shu's horror.

"Are you out of your mind, Ayase!? Stand back!"

Inori's void was the first to enter the flames, immediately increasing the intensity of the flame's heat and size. From one moment to the next, as if Ayase had poured gasoline into it, the fire exploded all around her, now shining brightly in its new white color. Yet, despite it being used as fuel, it did not get burned by the fire at all. No matter how hot the flames got and how tightly they wrapped around the void, it did not receive even the slightest bit of damage which Ayase noted with a knowing smirk.

"You will never burn me, Shu."

Saying this, there was no hesitation to be seen in her as she followed after Inori, entering the flames head on.

"Ayase!" Shu cried out in fear once he saw her burst up into white flames, her worn armor getting caught up in the fire immediately.

"Goddamnit, Ayase. I command you to stop! Get back while you still can!" He yelled at her, now even trying to get up from his throne to get to her and save her, yet being entirely unable to since he was still bound to it by the chains Ayase had seen earlier.

"I am afraid I have to refuse that order, my king." Was all she had to say to that in response, sounding almost amused at this point.

She noticed how the material of her clothes was quick to burn away, but despite all that, there was no pain on her skin. Where the fires had been scorching hot before, scaring any being with even a faint sense of self preservation away in fear of getting harmed, Ayase could only giggle in amusement once she noticed that the moment she had entered the fire, the scorching heat had instead become a pleasant warmth that protectively and gently placed itself around her. She allowed herself to sigh in relief at the realization that Shu's flames were powerful enough to destroy anything, yet would not dare harming her. If she were entirely honest, there was also quite a bit of pride welling up in her because of this as well.

After all, this was testament to her worth to Shu. The undeniable proof of her importance to him.

In a way, it was, in on itself, a declaration of love.

It was because of this, perhaps, that Ayase found it quite ironic that the king himself could not understand that she was fine even when she was engulfed in his flames in all her entirety. It was funny how she had so much more faith in his feelings for her than he seemed to have himself.

Such a hopelessly stupid king.

Yet he was so very lovable even despite that.

Or maybe even because of that?

It's not like she could really understand it completely herself.

But was there really something to understand?

It's not like it mattered _why_ she loved Shu. All that mattered was that she _did_.

Clang.

Step.

Clang.

Step.

Clang.

Step.

"Ayase!" She could feel the king's arms throwing themselves around her the moment she had managed to get into his reach. She had to withhold a laugh at his actions. He was worried about her being covered in flames, yet would hesitate not even a second to embrace her burning self? For all it was worth, those white flames that were different from his current black ones could have very well harmed him, you know? Not like he seemed to care. Neither did she that she was now entirely naked, the flames having eaten away everything that hadn't been her. Which left her with nothing but her hair and her void. Normally she would have probably already have died from embarrassment, but right now there was no shame at all. Only happiness.

"I have returned to my king." She merely informed him with a voice filled with satisfaction, realizing she had done that which she had wanted to do from the very beginning. Even after having been pushed back to the very beginning, she had still managed to end up here in the end.

"Idiot, even though I told you to stay away." He scolded her, yet refused to let go of her. She wanted to return his embrace, yet wouldn't dare to let go of Inori's void in order to do so. It was too important to the both of them to merely let it fall to the floor now, was it?

"No matter how often you push me away. I will always return to you, for you are my king." She told him with closed eyes, taking in his warmth and scent. This moment alone was enough of a reward for all the hardships she had had to endure up until now.

"Why would you go that far for someone like me…?" He asked her with a painful expression to which she only responded by gently caressing his cheek.

"You already know why." Then she put a finger on his lips to prevent him from speaking up. "And don't you dare claiming you don't deserve it."

"Even after all I did…?" He asked her with sad eyes.

"What you did is of no importance. Rather than that, I care more about what you will do from now on."

"What do you mean?"

She closed her eyes knowingly. "I am still waiting for my promotion, you know. Before that, though…" She pushed him back into his throne and placed Inori's void back into his hands. "I believe this belongs to you."

Shu's eyes lit up upon seeing the sword being returned to him and carefully took it back into his possession, leaving no doubt about how much of a treasure he regarded it to be.

"Thank you. Without it, I feel like only half a person, as weird as it may sound." He told her with nothing but genuine gratefulness in both his eyes and voice. Ayase held back a chuckle. For all that it was worth, if the things Inori had said to her earlier were true, he might be actually right about that.

As soon as the void had returned to him, the dark flames all around the platform eventually died down and vanished without a trace. With the fires surrounding Ayase now gone, too, Shu finally seemed to notice her distinctive lack of clothes and was quick to avert his gaze.

"Sorry about your clothes." He mumbled as he tried to hide a blush which, for some reason, only caused Ayase to smirk at him.

"Yeah, right. If I didn't know any better, I would think it was on purpose. Pervert."

Shu couldn't find a good response to that, so he merely opted in on clearing his throat while handing her his king's robe to cover herself with.

"Does wearing that count as a promotion already?" She asked him jokingly.

"Are you really sure you actually want it?" He asked her worriedly.

"No, I actually just risked getting burned alive because I felt suicidal, you know." She replied sarcastically to which he could only frown and sigh.

"This isn't a game, Ayase. Becoming queen will change your life forever. There is no going back."

"And as we both already know, there is no going back for me anyway, as I would always just come back up here no matter how many times I get sent back." She smirked at him evilly. "Or how many queens you place in my way."

He looked away in guilt. "So you met her. Tell me, did she say anything?"

This caused her to raise a brow. "You can't talk to her?"

He looked down in sadness. "I can vaguely sense her with me and having her void is proof of the fact that she may still exist inside me, but whenever I summon her, I black out. I've tried so many times, it nearly drove me mad." Ayase saw dark mist starting to spread from him and opened up her eyes in alarm. Was this the cycle of darkness Inori had spoken about? His depression leading to her getting depressed which ultimately becomes his depression in the end, since he had assumed her?

"Shu, you will have to stop agonizing over it. It makes her sad, you know?" She told him worriedly.

"It's not like I can help it. I miss her."

"Oh believe me, she does too." Ayase said while trying to hide all the bitterness that tried to resurface just from remembering Inori's negativity and all the trouble it had caused her.

"Sounds like I made you face something bad, huh." He managed to see through her anyway.

"Inori's negativity was…a handful, let me tell you that. But meeting her positivity was really nice."

"I bet it was…" Shu couldn't help but smile as he appeared to think back about something, eventually, however, he snapped out of it again.

"So…" He said. "About that promotion you wanted…"

"Yes?" Ayase immediately tensed up nervously, causing Shu to gesture for her to calm down by making soothing movement with his left hand.

"Did Inori…approve or oppose?"

The brunette pawn narrowed her eyes in disdain. "Why? Is she to promote me or are you?"

This caused Shu to smile weakly. "Well, I already refused and you didn't care about that, so I figured if you could have a queen directly tell you how bad it is to be my queen, that you would actually reconsider, or at least be aware of the downsides to it."

Huh, that made sense. Sort of. Ayase wanted Inori's job, so having her tell Ayase all about it before she were to accept would have been a reasonable course of action. That being said…

"If you really had wanted her to give me a fair evaluation, you probably shouldn't have sent only her negativity at me you dingus!" She hit him on the head with gritted teeth.

"Well, I naturally had hoped she would focus more on the negative aspects if I only sent her darkness. Makes sense, no?" He explained to her with a guilty smile and attempted to shrug the matter off. Could you believe this fool? She grabbed him by the collar while offering him an angry smirk.

"Oh you _think_? Wanna hear what she did instead? Do you?"

"How bad could it have been? She probably ended up calling you a few names or something." He tried to play the matter down. Ayase's eyes narrowed down in disdain.

"She kicked me down the stairs."

"Well, that's…"

"She impaled me on the freaking ceiling with a halberd."

"WHAT, come on now, that can't be tr-"

"She broke my damn legs!"

"I am sure that was only her way of expressing the pain of queenship…" He told her while sweating horribly.

"How about I express the pain of _loving_ such a dork as yourself by beating you up right here and now, huh?"She thus replied with a scary smile. However, before Shu could respond to her threat, the light in his eyes left him and his head drooped idly to the side, leaving her surprised and worried.

"Shu? What happened?"

"Don't worry, he is fine." A certain voice from behind her informed her gently. Ayase, recognizing the voice and associating various conflicting emotions with it, was hesitant to turn around, yet couldn't really ignore it either. Sure enough, once she had found her resolve to face the newcomer, she was, again, looking into the crimson eyes of a certain pinkette queen. And like the other two versions of her Ayase had met prior, this one looked different yet again.

But for all that it was worth, Ayase had to admit that this one probably looked the closest to how she actually remembered Inori to look like after all these years. Her dress was made of vibrant colors of red and orange this time around and even her crown, while big and certainly pompous, was still somewhat cute since the crown's teeth were actually formed by petals of a half-closed flower. There was also a shiny brooch shaped like the same flower, although it's bud was now opened, revealing a beautiful red gemstone. The queen's expression was neither cold, nor overly friendly. Her eyes were sparkling with curiosity and anticipation and the corners of her mouth were slightly facing upwards in a very small smile.

Yes, indeed, there was no doubt. From all the previous iterations of Inori, this one probably hit home the most. Still, you never knew with these pinkettes in this place…

"So which kind of Inori are you this time…?" She asked her tiredly and wary. She sure hoped it wasn't another hostile one since, even though her mind was willing to fight for Shu as many times as it took, her body was in no condition to still do so, exhausted as she was.

Inori was seen frowning as if unsure how to even respond to that question. She tilted her head in thought, looked away for a bit, but eventually ended up saying: "I am me."

Ayase couldn't help but smile at that. It was barely an answer at all, yet something she would expect Inori to say. To her, the question was probably rather dumb. What kind of Inori could she possibly be when there was just Inori? Sure, she had been split apart and those parts could have been referred to as different Inoris, but the real one, the complete Inori would always just be that. Inori.

"So, is this really you? For real?"

The pinkette nodded slightly. "For real. I've wanted to meet you for so long. It's good that you are finally here."

"Yeah, I took quite a while, huh?" Ayase said with a weak smile, scratching the back of her head.

"One year, eight months, fifteen days, two hours, thirty-three minutes and five seconds since your confession." Inori told her with a deadpanned expression, causing Ayase to flinch.

"You counted?"

"I am good at multitasking now." The queen explained to her with a meek smile. When Ayase blinked, she was surprised to see herself being surrounded by multiple identical Inoris. Before she could ask, however, with another blink, they were already gone again with only the original Inori standing in front of her once more, putting her hands behind her back innocently. "One of the perks of living in Shu's subconsciousness."

"Sub…consciousness?" Ayase asked in mild bewilderment. Inori nodded and snapped her fingers. In a white flash, their surroundings suddenly changed into a sunny beach with both women now being clad in fitting bikinis. A sky as blue and wide as the ocean in front of them was now laid out above them and said ocean had waves crashing against the beach which was now filled with many random people. Ayase had barely finished looking around when Inori had snapped her fingers once more, changing the scenery into the apartment Ayase was currently sharing with Shu. Both girls were now wearing casual wear for lazing around at home. However, before Ayase could take a closer look again, with another snap, their surroundings changed into Tennozu High with them both looking younger and wearing their old school uniforms.

"Whoa…!" Ayase let out an amazed sound as she looked down on herself. In the end, though, Inori reverted everything back into the familiar throne room they had both started in. That was probably for the better, Ayase thought, suddenly feeling slightly dizzy due to all of this.

"When I became one with Shu, this is where I ended up being. And since I am part of Shu, I can control it. As long as I can imagine it, it can happen. I am using it to help Shu out during the day or for talking to other people by pulling them in here, like I did with you."

Ayase pointed at herself, visibly dumbfounded. "You brought me here?"

The queen smiled sweetly. "But of course. I am forced to act on the inside, yet Shu lives on the outside, so I naturally need an ally on the outside as well. I decided early on that it had to be you." She explained with a proud nod.

"Hold on." Ayase asked of her in confusion. "What do you mean " _You decided it had to be me_ "?"

Tilting her head ever so slightly, Inori replied. "Hm? Well, I could see it in your eyes. The way you kept looking at Shu. The same way I did. I made up my mind right then and there. I would support you in order to support Shu. With your help, I could finally finish rebuilding him. Once he is rebuilt, his suffering should end."

"This raises up more questions than it answered. First: You saw me? How?"

"Shu's eyes. I see through them. Which is probably the reason why he can't, unfortunately…" She looked down in sadness. "His own eyes were destroyed during the apocalypse. I gave him mine as a replacement, but they were broken, too, so…"

"Are you for real?" The brunette asked her with her mouth gaping apart, Inori only blinked at her as if to say: "What's wrong?"

"I am for real."

Realizing that this was Inori she was talking to, there was probably no use expecting a more detailed explanation to come out of her mouth. Seeing as to how this was all a bit hard to swallow either way, perhaps it was best to limit herself to merely understanding that which seemed to be the most important. Therefore, she asked:

"Okay, so what is this about rebuilding Shu?"

For some reason, this caused the pinkette to close her eyes and smirk knowingly as if to say "So you don't know, huh. Alright, let me teach you." With another snap of her fingers, the room changed into a school's classroom with Ayase sitting at a student's desk while Inori was seen standing next to the board, for some reason now being dressed like a teacher with her hair tied up neatly and a cute pair of glasses resting on her nose. Narrowing her eyes at the sudden change, Ayase couldn't help but wonder:

"What's with the setting…?"

Inori, letting out a small giggle, replied: "Do you like it? This is how Shu imagined I would look like if we had been able to go to college together. There was no exact teacher version for me, but I figured this one was close enough. Right?" She spun around on the spot to show off her new style. It suited her, the brunette had to admit. If Shu came up with that image, he sure had put a lot of thought into it. Typical. Given how lost in thought he was most of the time, he certainly would have had the time to think about something like this. Perhaps Ayase shouldn't have been surprised to learn that THIS had been where most of his thoughts had ended up bringing him to. Oh well, it was certainly better than constantly imagining end of the world scenarios, wasn't it? She looked down on herself and noticed that she was merely wearing her old student uniform, which was slightly disappointing, although understandable. There was no need to reimagine Ayase as a student when an image of herself already existed in his memory and could be used instead. Still, seeing Inori so happy about Shu's mere fantasy, Ayase kind of wished to see what he fantasized her to look like, too.

"Anyway. Back to topic." Inori cleared her throat and pointed at the board which suddenly showed a chalk-drawn image of Shu's heart on it. In return, this image was filled up with pictures of people Ayase knew, most of them being Shu's friends. Inori, however, took the biggest part, right in the center. Strangely enough, even though the caricatures were drawn on the board, they were still moving around as if animated on a TV screen. "This was Shu's heart before the apocalypse. As we can see: Healthy. But now, look at this:"

Inori-sensei tapped the board and the image changed. Shu's heart was now ripped apart into various pieces scattered all around the board. This caused Ayase to open up her eyes in shock.

"That's a metaphor for saying his heart was broken, right?"

Inori, however, could only shake her head. "No, it was literally ripped apart in the apocalypse. He assumed so many hearts and cleansed them off the virus that the virus ended up ripping his heart apart instead." She explained with a sad expression, but immediately lighted up afterwards. "Buuuuut!"

The image changed with another tap on the board. It showed Shu's heart, but it had been reassembled again. While you could still see the cracks on it, they were all held together by band-aids put on the various parts by a Chibi-Inori in a nurse outfit. Ayase had to give her bonus points for cuteness at least.

"When Shu and I became one, I used to opportunity to restore him. You could say, I literally became the glue that kept his shattered soul together, but, as you can see…it came with a price."

Ayase could see what the pinkette meant. Shu's heart had been restored, but in the center where Inori's image had used to be, only a gaping hole was left, thus creating a new problem.

"By becoming one with Shu, I ended up saving him, but I can no longer separate from him again or he would fall apart again. However, if the void I left behind is not filled, the restoration cannot be completed. A hole as big as this cannot be fixed with mere band-aids, after all."

"I see. So this is where I help out, right?"

"Exactly!" Inori gleamed at her excitedly and pointed at the board once more. She took Ayase's picture and placed it into the gaping hole. The board lit up in a gleaming light and, sure enough, Shu's heart was seen to be as good as new, now shining brightly with Ayase in its center and a bigger, ghostly Inori holding it all together with both her hands. The words "complete recovery!" flashed up under the illustration. "See, if we do this, it's our victory. Shu gets restored and everyone gets happy."

Raising her hand like a good student, Ayase then asked curiously: "So, does that mean you could come back afterwards?"

Inori could only shake her head with a carefree shrug. "There is no body for me to return to. But that's quite alright. Being one with Shu is more than I could have ever dreamt of. Plus, if we end up restoring him, I would no longer be required to stay in his subconciousness all the time to hold his soul together. This means he would no longer faint whenever I try appearing in front of him, so we could at least talk again!"

This caused a determined gleam to appear in Ayase's eyes. "Oooooh, and when that happens…"

Inori matched her expression. "The end of the cycle of negativity!"

The brunette pawn suddenly stood up with enough vigor to knock her chair back and raised her fist in confidence. "Then what are we waiting for, let's do it!"

The illusion of the classroom gradually faded and returned to the original scenery, including Inori and Ayase's appearance, although Ayase was now fully clothed again, a courtesy of the pinkette queen.

However, where Ayase was seemingly about to burst from the amount of confidence that welled up inside her, Inori was seen looking down worriedly as she folded her hands together in front of her awkwardly.

"However, Shu originally meant to have me talk you out of it and I would hate to betray the trust he has put in me."

Ayase couldn't help but groan in frustration. "You mean when our glorious king had the genius idea to split you in half and sic your negativity on me?"

Inori frowned at that. "I am sorry for what my negativity did to you, but don't blame Shu for something he couldn't have possibly foreseen."

"What do you mean?"

The pink haired queen sighed sadly and took a glance at the unconscious king resting on his throne. "In Shu's eyes, we are perfect. As far as he is concerned, neither of us is possible of doing anything malicious. You could say he has absolute faith in our innocence. In fact, he would even go as far as to downright deny any guilt we could have tainted ourselves with by taking it upon himself instead, claiming it had been his all along. When Shu split me into my light and darkness, he was physically incapable of even imagining me to ever harm you the way I ended up doing. Even when you told him about it just now, deep down in his heart, he absolutely refused to accept it."

Ayase frowned at that as well, realizing the problem in all of that. "That's so like that idiot…" She sighed.

"As you could clearly see, I am far from perfect. All the years of seeing Shu being so miserable have fed my darkness, yet if he would know of that, he would just take it all upon himself and suffer for it in my stead. While part of me is happy for the gesture, another part is angry at him for it. How can I protect him if he is not allowing me to take some of his guilt and pain upon myself? He thinks I would blame him for it, yet the sole reason I became his queen was so I could ease up his burden and carry it together with him. I don't need a painless life when it is spent watching him being in pain instead." She looked away angrily.

"I agree completely." Ayase said with a tired sigh. "He has a big heart and wants to protect us, but what good is it when his protection ends up destroying himself? I would rather lose my perfect image in his heart than losing him instead.

"Mh-hm." Inori nodded in agreement. After all, she herself had been ready to even abandon her own humanity to keep Shu safe. "Still, he isn't entirely wrong about everything." She had to admit in the end. Ayase looked at her in curiosity.

Inori narrowed her eyes, looking as if she was lost in thought. "He wasn't lying when he said that being his queen is painful. In fact, loving him was probably the single most agonizing thing I have ever gone through. Countless tears and unbelievable amounts of blood have been spilled. Something that could have been avoided, had I just never accepted Shu into my heart. Life could have been easier." The pinkette's eyes fell on her throne. "Should you accept to walk the same path as me, you will undoubtedly experience the same fate. I cannot blame him for trying to save you from it. Nobody would want their loved ones to experience such a life. So tell me, Ayase. Are you absolutely sure you won't regret your choice? There is no going back, after all."

"I appreciate your concern, Inori." The brunette woman told her with a sigh, obviously tired from hearing this over and over again. It was not like she didn't believe Shu or her when they said it was going to become hard, but still…she had known that all along and gathered her resolve accordingly. That's why she responded: "But tell me: Even after coming to know of every hardship that has befallen you as Shu's queen, did you ever regret it?"

This made Inori smile knowingly. It was at least as bright and warm as Shu's fire was, shining with enough intensity that it almost felt like she alone was illuminating the whole throne room by herself.

"Not even for a second. Everything that befell me. Everything I ended up becoming. All the pain. All the sorrow. Even death. It was all worth loving Shu for. Even if I could go back in time and redo my encounter with him. I would change absolutely nothing."

Ayase smirked at her, having expected exactly that answer. "You said you saw it in my eyes. That we are the same. So why the hell would you assume my answer would differ? This is the path I have decided upon and no one can force me to abandon it anymore. Not even you or Shu."

Hearing that answer, Inori closed her eyes and smiled in satisfaction. Yes, Ayase had indeed been the one she had been waiting for. When she opened her eyes, she took a look at Shu and said: "Sorry, Shu. I did as you wanted and she didn't care. Not that I had hoped she would anyway. It's fine with this, right?" Her gaze went back to Ayase as she stretched out her right hand into her direction. A glowing hole appeared on her chest.

"Whoa, what…" Ayase asked in surprise when silver threads started emerging from her chest, gathering in Inori's palm. When the threads started forming Ayase's pawn piece, it became all too obvious what the queen was doing.

"H-hey, isn't that supposed to be Shu's job?" Ayase asked worriedly.

"I am half of what he is. I can do it, too. Unless you insist on him doing it? We can do that, but he will likely just try to find a way to talk you out of it." Inori told her with a knowing smile. "We are never gonna make progress that way."

"Uuuuu~" The pawn whined in annoyance and blew up her cheeks in a pout. She had wanted Shu to do it, but Inori had a point. She had already tried asking him and he had just kept trying to find a way of avoiding the inevitable. Still, Ayase couldn't help but wonder: "Is this really okay? Aren't we going against his will by doing it this way?"

But Inori could only shake her head, giggling slightly. "I cannot actually do things he doesn't want to happen. The thing is…he may say he doesn't want you to become his queen, but deep down in the deepest parts of his heart lie his true feelings. He can't hide those from me. I can see them clearly and they tell me to proceed. Therefore, Ayase, this promotion, even if carried out by me, is Shu's greatest wish. Will you accept it?"

Ayase fought down the blush that tried creeping up her face due to her revelation. Shaking her head in the end to get rid of all these happy girly thoughts that tried to cloud her mind, she hastily knelt down in front of Inori and answered: "It would be an honor, your majesty."

"Then so be it." Inori's crimson eyes began glowing brightly, followed by the pawn piece in her hand changing shapes rapidly. Ayase could barely make out the shapes of the knight, bishop or rook before it had already changed into the queen piece. However, it didn't seem to be over with just that as Inori's gaze began growing even more concentrated and the queen piece that levitated in her hand started trembling with power. Soon it started to emit sparks of energy. Only few and very small ones at first, but as their intensity grew, so did the amount of them until Inori was basically being covered in them all over. But even then, she never stopped pouring energy into it. Ayase watched in awe, silently wondering how much energy actually had to be put into it in the first place. Seeing how hard it actually was for Inori, perhaps she had secretly opted in on doing it instead of Shu to save his already burdened state the additional struggle.

The queen piece eventually began glowing as if actually burning up. In fact, there was apparently so much heat gathering in it that it began glowing in pure white. Then it appeared to be actually melting only to have its liquid assume the shape of a crown before it hardened again. Once that was achieved, the glow faded alongside all the sparks, allowing Inori to let out a sigh of relief as well as exhaustion.

"Told you I could do it." She said with a proud grin.

Ayase couldn't reply. Too absorbed had her eyes become with staring at the crown resting in Inori's hand. _Her_ crown.

Finally.

Noticing Ayase's sparkling eyes, Inori offered her an understanding smile and pointed at the empty throne next to Shu while gently saying: "Take a seat, Ayase. You have waited long enough. We all have."

Ayase slowly got up and followed Inori's gaze to look at the abandoned throne that was soon to become hers. Slowly she approached it, taking in and basking in this moment. Everything she had worked for would finally pay off. Her biggest wish was about to become a reality.

When she finally stood in front of it, she couldn't help but notice the chains lying on the ground next to it. Old. Heavy. Rusty.

Bloody.

She narrowed down her eyes determinedly. As if that could ever scare her. She knew of the price she had to pay for this.

It didn't matter.

Without the slightest speck of hesitation, she turned around and took a seat, placing both her hands on each armrest firmly. This was her fate. Her destiny. Everything she had done in her life, she was sure she had done just to be right here. Her gaze went to her left where Shu still sat absent mindedly. A smile crept up to her lips.

All of it to be at this man's side.

Inori walked up to her, still holding Ayase's crown in her hands.

"I know you are already aware, but if you have even just the faintest doubts, this is your last chance to act on them. Once this crown gets placed on your head, your fate is sealed. I want Shu to become happy, but I will feel bad if you end up regretting this in the end." The pinkette told her seriously.

"Inori, if I ever end up regretting this, I want you to split yourself once more and send your darkness to finish me off. I won't even resist her, for she would have actually been right all along. A woman as pathetic to regret falling in love just because it is hard and hurts is weak. Someone like that does not deserve to be queen, let alone Shu's. I won't allow myself to put you two or myself to such a shame. No…I will be the queen Shu needs me to be." Her determined expression softened as she closed her eyes and then offered the queen a smile. "It would help, though, if you could silently cheer me on and believe in me. I am sure I will need all the support I could possibly get."

"Stupid Ayase…" Inori said jokingly and smiled. "You had my support long before you even became Shu's pawn. As long as I exist, I will do everything in my might to keep Shu happy. And as his queen, this will include you as well."

Ayase nodded happily. "Then I have nothing to fear. Please proceed, your majesty." She closed her eyes and leaned forward slightly for Inori to place the crown on its rightful place. Having confirmed Ayase's resolve, the pinkette nodded approvingly as well and lifted the crown up, gently bringing it down on her head.

"Shinomiya Ayase, pawn of the king, you have proven your strength, bravery and commitment in the service of the kingdom and have therefore been granted the honor of promoting to a queen with the consent of the king himself." Inori suddenly declared loudly and in a very official manner. "The kingdom gathers to bear witness to this event."

Suddenly, behind Inori, all the other pieces gathered and knelt down in respect.

"Tamedate Souta, head of the order of pawns, approves of this decision and swears allegiance to the queen."

"Tsukishima Argo, head of the order of knights, approves of this decision and swears allegiance to the queen."

"Sendo Tsugumi, head of the order of bishops, approves of this decision and swears allegiance to the queen."

"Samukawa Yahiro, head of the order of rooks, approves of this decision and swears allegiance to the queen."

"Yuzuriha Inori, first queen, approves of this decision and vows to fully support her in any way she ever needs."

Everyone was then seen looking over to Shu, who still wasn't looking as if he was paying any attention, blankly staring into the distance instead. However…

"I…approve…" Two words came out of his mouth as if he had forced himself to gather all his energy just to form them. It had barely been anything at all and yet more than enough. Everyone nodded in acceptance of the king's decision while Ayase just kept staring at him in utter shock as well as relief. So Inori had spoken the truth…deep down, when Shu was forced to lay bare that which he ultimately truly felt…

It was consent.

"So it is decided. With this, I hereby strip you, Shinomiya Ayase, of the rank of pawn and instead crown you Second Queen Shinomiya Ayase." Then, at long last, the crown in Inori's hands finally touched her scalp and an immense power began surging through her whole body. It was so overwhelming, in fact, she had to gasp and almost forgot how to breathe afterwards. Everything around her suddenly felt different from before as if her now glowing eyes could see things she could not see before. In all honesty, it was a sensation which, if Ayase had to describe it, would be akin to being completely reborn anew. A literally breathtaking experience.

But with the privilege also came the burden. The chains that had previously lied idly next to the throne, suddenly awoke to life and wrapped themselves loosely around Ayase's limbs, causing her to wince when their cold metal mercilessly bound itself to her. Like Shu, she was not restrained and could still move just fine, but separating herself from the throne she would never be able to do again for the rest of her life. A thought that made her somewhat sad, but ultimately didn't bother her as much as she had previously thought it would. So what if she could never leave again? She never had had any intention to do so in the first place. This was right where she had wanted to be. This was where she belonged.

Following that realization, the once old and rusty metal of the chains began glowing only to reveal completely restored metal in its place once the glow eventually faded again. No rust. No blood. A clean, fresh start. And not only that, her pawn's armor and gear had been replaced by a beautiful and spotless dress of pure white, further adorned by glittering gemstones. A clean slate for the pure diamond Shu saw her as. The only thing that shone brighter than her dress was probably the smile present on her lips. Like a kid that has received its first Christmas present, Ayase looked up to Inori excitedly as if to show it off with a "Look, look!"

"Seeing you this happy makes the part of me that is closer to Shu really happy as well." Inori admitted with a sly smile. "Sometimes it's hard to tell where myself ends and he starts. Is it me who is happy right now or is it Shu whom I can feel as well?" She wondered amusedly.

"Can't it be both?" The newborn queen asked her confusedly, causing Inori to utter a small giggle.

"Why, yes. That does make sense. It's been so long since we have both been happy about something at the same time, I could hardly understand this feeling for a moment." She noted with a sheepish smile. This reminded Ayase of something, so she excitedly asked:

"Oh yeah! Until we finish Shu's restoration, you can't talk, but perhaps you want me to give him a message? You two could talk through me, you know?" She shared her genius idea. Inori only smiled sadly.

"I appreciate the thought, but that doesn't work. I will have to release you soon. You may have already realized that this is Shu's subconsciousness, so everyone in here is merely their individual subconsciousnesses I pulled in here by hijacking Shu's void. Once this coronation is over, everyone will have to leave once more to their respective souls."

Ayase frowned. "I don't quite get it, but can't I simply tell Shu afterwards?" Inori's head shook slowly.

"A subconsciousness is, as the name implies, a subsection of your real conscience which is the you that you actually register as being yourself. It is so small, that you barely even noticed its absence in the outside world while you were here, meaning that, once it returns, you will barely notice its return, either. In other words…"

"I won't actually notice ever having been here…..do I?" Ayase's eyes widened up as realization slowly befell her. "Which means…I won't remember anything at all?"

"I am afraid not." Inori confirmed her worries with a gentle smile. "But while your real self won't actively remember any of this, your subconsciousness will. You would be surprised to know how much our subconsciousness unknowingly affects our daily actions. Believe me, I should know, managing Shu's subconsciousness and all. As long as you remember, you will affect whatever your conscious self is doing drastically."

"Even so…that's quite a shame, isn't it…?" Ayase told her with a sad look. "That just means I will forget you too, doesn't it?"

Inori frowned and raised a finger angrily. "Not forgetting. Just not remembering. There's a difference. The memory of this journey will still shape you from now on. Even if you can't access it. And when I feel lonely, I could always just pull you in here once more to share a cup of tea once in a while." She massaged the back of her neck nervously. "Unless you would rather not come back, which I could totally understand after what my darkness did to you."

"Oi, oi…" Ayase told her with a deep sigh. "You better pull me back here after I have rested up. After all, I want a rematch. I am gonna beat that negativity's ass, you hear me?" She smirked at the last part, letting her right fist hit her palm in anticipation for payback.

Inori laughed nervously. "Please don't destroy my avatars. The last time you did, I had to restart the whole fantasy again." She sighed. "That's quite hard, you know. Harder than getting Shu out of bed on a Monday morning. And that's next to impossible."

"Ooooh, so that's what happened." The brunette realized as she thought back about floating in that white space of nothing. Now that she thought about it, if Inori managed this place and someone destroyed her, that would be a logical result, given the lack of an administrator. "But on the other hand, you can't be killed again, so that's something, right? I mean, you came back from that just fine, no?"

"Well, yeah. You can't kill a conscience. I could always just create a new one unless you were to destroy that. It's everything that's left of me. My body, if you will." The pinkette pointed at the singer's sword resting in Shu's hands. Huh, so all that was left of her was her void. Seeing this made Ayase remember how she had initially treated the sword as a crutch, which, in return, made her blush madly in shame and wave her hands around in front of Inori in an apologizing fashion.

"Oh my gosh! I didn't mean to-"

"Relax. You would have to try way harder to break that." The first queen told her amusedly. "It was sturdy before and is now fused with Shu's, which makes it pretty much indestructible. You would have better luck crushing diamonds with your hands."

"Is that so…" The brunette couldn't help but sigh in relief.

"Anyway, it's nearly time for you all to depart. Wouldn't want you all to miss this big day, even if just subconsciously." Inori told them all with an eager clap of the hands.

The newborn queen, however, couldn't help but tilt her head. "Big day? Is something happening on the outside?

For some reason, everyone stared at her as if she had said something unbelievable.

"Oi, oi. Did you really forget? After nagging me for three months straight to absolutely not forget to come?" Argo said while massaging the back of his neck in annoyance.

"And all that after I spent so much effort convincing Arisa to come, too." Souta whined with drooped shoulders. "Nearly had to sell my soul for it."

"Screw that!" Tsugumi told him with gritted teeth. "I spent the last 6 months planning this event and she freakin' forgets."

"Nah, she just got cold feet, is all." Yahiro told everyone with a sigh and sighed. "I don't see the harm. We still get to eat, right? I mean, it's already paid for, so…"

"I think that might be an effect of having her stay in here for too long. It's time to wrap this up." Inori decided as she cleared her throat. Then, with a commanding tone, she told everyone:

"Rise."

The court stood firmly at her command.

"Salute."

Everyone brought their hands up to their heads and paid their respects.

"Cheer."

Everyone cheered in unison.

"Long live the queen! Long live the queen! Long live the queen!"

As they cheered, their bodies started getting more and more transparent. The less visibly they became, the more quiet their voices became as a result. Eventually, they were all gone until only Inori remained, now dissolving into silver threads herself, each and every single one of them returning inside Shu's void arm.

"Congratulations, Ayase. I will be watching over both of you." She told her successor gently.

"We will be in your care." The new queen bowed her head in gratitude. "I guess this is good-bye?"

"For now, yes. Take care. Until we meet again." Inori performed a humble curtsy and, following that, she was already gone. Not even a second later, Shu regained his senses again, looking around in surprise and confusion.

"Woah, what just happ-" His gaze fell on Ayase, now sitting on the previously empty throne. His shock was evident as ever, given how he clearly had expected for it to remain that way forever. Seeing it occupied once more filled his heart with many conflicting emotions to such an extent that it seemed as if he had lost his ability to speak for just a second. Ayase, for her part, couldn't help but wave her hand at him in greeting with a cheeky smile.

"Hey there, sleepy head."

Shu could only bring up his hand to his mouth, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Ayase…that crown…what have you done…!" He was visibly confused. But rather than anger, it was worry she was able to hear out of his voice.

"Inori promoted me, since you were so stubborn about it." She told him with an annoyed sigh, shrugging at him.

"She could do that…? Without my consent?" This made Ayase grin at him mischievously.

"What are you talking about? You agreed. Everyone was around to hear it."

"T-that can't be…!" Shu cursed as he held his head in frustration. "Did I grow weak in the end? I was supposed to resist." He narrowed his eyes in disdain. "And Inori was supposed to help. I can't believe she helped me doom you instead…she of all people should have known…"

"She doesn't regret it, you know." The newborn queen told him in a matter of fact manner, causing Shu to look at her in surprise.

"Eh…? What do you mean?"

"Becoming queen. If she had had the chance to go back in time and do it all over, she would always become your queen. To her, it was worth every second." She grinned at him. "And I feel the same way. She said I have the same resolve as her, so it must be true."

She saw Shu stare at her wide eyed, tears slowly forming in his eyes before he quickly wiped them away with a weak smile. "What's with you guys…here I am thinking about you and worrying about your happiness and then you go and disregard it all by throwing away the freedom I was trying to give at least one of you."

"That's noble of you. To think of setting the one you love free. But, you know, if she returns even despite having been granted freedom, doesn't that mean you are worth more to her than freedom ever will be?"

"Aren't you overrating my worth a bit too much? After all, I am just this good for nothing king who couldn't even give his pawn the promotion she deserved." He asked her with a defeated looking smile, causing her to offer him a loving one of her own in return.

"It's freedom that's overrated, really. It is meaningless if it is not spent with the one you love, wouldn't you agree?"

Shu chuckled softly. "Hmmm, I wonder why my queens tend to be so much wiser than their king, yet act so foolish at the same time. Both of you could have had the world, yet settled for a broken and foolish king instead."

Closing her eyes in mild amusement, she replied: "Well, I suppose that's true. We might be a bit stupid to fall in love with such a stubborn dork as you, but if being intelligent means disregarding the things your heart tells you, embracing ignorance might be the better option.

Hearing this, Shu's expression became awfully serious as he reached out to grab Ayase's hand determinedly.

"Ayase."

"H-huh? What is it?" She stuttered, clearly surprised by the sudden skin contact and the change in tone. A mild blush crept up her face.

"I still believe I never deserved to have either of you at my side," He told her while looking away in shame before locking gazes with her again. "…but now that it came to this, I swear to you that this time, I will not let anything bad happen to my queen again. You have my word." He bowed his head to her slightly, further intensifying her blush.

"Sheesh, w-who e-even said I-I needed your p-p-protection, idiot?" She looked away in obvious shame about her dishonest words. "In the first place, I became queen to protect you, got it?"

He smiled at her sweetly before bringing her hand up to his lips, kissing its back gently which in return sent electricity through her whole body and made her fear that the severe heat of her cheeks might become visible in the form of steam heating up the cooler air around her. "Thank you, Ayase. From today on, my life shall rest in your hands, so I hope you will feel at ease leaving yours in mine as well."

"Idiot." She muttered as she looked down nervously. When she looked up again to face him, he was given the most precious gift she could have given him. "There is no other man I would rather entrust it to."

The most beautiful of smiles, radiating the kind of warmth he had longed for ever since he had lost Inori. Just seeing it made him feel like he was being kissed by the spring sun which was just about to melt the leftover snow of winter. And as her light engulfed him, he could feel his own darkness melt away together with the snow. He sighed in relief, already feeling less burdened than any time during the past lonely years.

"If your smile alone is able to purify me to such an extent, I will feel guilty from hogging you all to myself, you know." He told her jokingly. "Your purity could be better spent healing the whole world."

She frowned at that in disdain. "The world wouldn't extend a hand for you when you needed help after saving it, so as far as I am concerned, the world can just go and suck it…"

This made Shu break out into a loud, amused laughter. "Oh no, am I already corrupting my untainted diamond?"

"I am incorruptible." She told him while shaking her head, but then smirked. "But now that I am yours, you will always come first."

"Careful now, Ayase. If you keep saying such sweet things, I am inclined to never let you leave this place again."

She narrowed her eyes on him, still smirking playfully. "What makes you think I want to?"

He shrugged sheepishly. "I am not too sure if keeping your subconsciousness away from your body any longer would be beneficial to you. So, even though it pains me, I will have to send you back soon." He chuckled slightly. "Although I doubt that with how much I am sure to yearn for your presence, my real self will be drawn to you immediately afterwards anyway."

This made Ayase blush once more. "Now that you are mentioning it, I sure hope I won't be doing anything stupid once I return."

"Well, only one way to find out, right?" He amusedly lifted his void hand and slowly pointed it towards her. "Return, Ayase."

This was the moment she noticed her awareness shifting. Her vision kept getting brighter and brighter until everything was engulfed in white, forcing her to close her eyes.

-GC-

Ayase felt something strange. From one moment to the next, she felt pride, love and happiness well up from deep inside her heart. It almost felt as if she had just returned from a long and extremely tiresome journey, yet one that had been worth every bit of hardship she had had to endure along the way. This made her frown for a bit, as she wondered what kind of journey she was currently feeling so strongly about for, yet couldn't quite interpret the feeling at all. True, today _had_ been a quite important day, but the only real struggle up to now had merely been suffering through this _abominable_ diet in order to actually fit into that spotlessly white and absolutely stunning wedding dress she was currently wearing. Her frown deepened as more frustration overcame her. Really, she had suffered and sacrificed so much to look good for this brunette dork next to her even though he couldn't even see it! She felt like crying! Just this once she had wished he could actually see not only the beauty of her heart but also her actual beauty! But that's when she shook her head slowly, realizing her selfish, girly thoughts for what they were. Then she smiled, throwing a small glance over to her groom from the corner of her eyes with a small smile.

Ah, what was she even complaining about? This was fine, after all.

She was currently sitting on the ground in front of the altar, Shu kneeling right next to her and holding her hand firmly as the pastor kept on preaching to them all about love, god and hope. The brunette bride had listened so intensely up until now, but as the most important question drew closer and closer, her maiden heart began beating more and more rapidly. Honestly, she asked herself, why was she feeling like a nervous school girl once more after all these years?

Her nervous gaze travelled around her surroundings, taking in the beauty of the cathedral they had managed to get wed in. Strangely enough, she felt as if its marble walls and sculptures were somewhat familiar. Like she had seen these somewhere before. For some reason, she then asked herself if the floor would be covered in a checkered pattern, only to disregard the thought instantly, wondering where this foolishness could have come from. There, however, were beautiful frescos present on the ceiling and a multitude of big windows allowed the big room to be bathed in the light of the sun that shone outside. It truly was a breathtakingly beautiful place to be wed in.

Behind her, all her friends sat in the first row, for some reason looking equally as worked up about something. Tsugumi was seen looking around like Ayase as if being reminded about something while Souta tried whispering something to Yahiro before Arisa who sat next to Souta was quick to elbow him for his lack of manners and told him to stay quiet. Yahiro tried to suppress a chuckle upon looking at Souta's apologizing puppy-look. That guy was totally whipped. Argo, in the meantime, was feeling visibly uncomfortable about his appearance; feeling like coming into the house of god with a haircut such as his could clearly be interpreted as rude. It's not like he was religious or anything, but there was no need to risk angering gods when it could be avoided, right? Next to all of that sat Kanon, silently shaking her head at everyone in disbelief. They had all been so calm up until now only to suddenly act all nervous and confused about something. Seriously, what was up with them? It was not like it had been THEIR wedding now, had it? Looking at Shu and Ayase in front of them, who seemed so calm and collected compared to this bunch, Kanon thought they could all learn something from them. Unbeknownst to her that secretly, Ayase was getting really nervous as well.

However, deep down, the feeling of not having to worry about anything started to spread out and in a matter of seconds, all her nervousness was gone.

And when the pastor finally asked the question she had waited to hear for such a long time…

" _Shinomiya Ayase , do you take Ouma Shu to be your wedded husband to live together in marriage? Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health and forsaking all others, be faithful only to him so long as you both shall live?_

…she, at long last, replied with nothing but utmost certainty:

" _I do."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, that's it. Done.
> 
> I was contemplating whether to end this chapter with them both kissing or with Ayase giving her "I do." In the end, I felt like the latter felt a bit more powerful, so I left it at that.
> 
> Speaking of changes, this chapter evolved greatly from its original concepts. The whole idea this was built on originally merely came to be because I had the random idea of having an evil Inori fight against Ayase, which I found to be so exciting to write, I actually tried really hard to construct a story around it.
> 
> The first iteration of "Long live the Queen!" actually was still written in Shu's PoV as we would go through another one of his darker fantasies. In it, he would end up destroying the world again until Ayase appeared to stop him. A dark Inori would end up getting in her way and they would fight.
> 
> This evolved into a version in which the story would instead be told in Ayase's PoV, still in Shu's fantasy, as he was surrounded by ruins he had caused himself, now burning up in the flames of his own darkness. He would be unresponsive and kneel on the ground, Inori's sword in his hand. Ayase would attempt to save him, yet a dark Inori would emerge from the sword and stubbornly protect Shu, deeming Ayase as a threat.
> 
> Scratching all that, I arrived at the idea of changing the setting to a big throne room we eventually got to see. However, in this version, Ayase was not meant to be inside Shu's subconsciousness but experience her own "Mind Game", being forced to confront all her subconscious doubts. All her friends would represent various doubts she would still have, and she would have to defeat all of them in order to overcome them and become queen. You can still see some of these remnants in this fic, as I think I kept some of the original lines from that version intact. In the end, Ayase was supposed to defeat the dark Inori who was supposed to be the manifestation of her biggest doubt. Being inferior to her. All the previous dark Inoris up to this point were mute and behaved more like ghosts or vengeful spirits. I then, however, thought it would be even cooler if she would actually talk, being the dialogue-guy that I am.
> 
> So I changed the concept again. This time into what we already got. All characters are real and were brought into Shu's subconsciousness by Inori who basically had full control over it. There were a few subversion of this version where Inori's goal had actually been a much darker one. She had brought Ayase in here to put an end to herself. By destroying Inori's last remnants, Shu would forget she had ever existed and could as a result, recover from his grief. Ultimately, it was scratched, since I couldn't think of a single way of actually making Ayase go along with it. So instead they teamed up to restore Shu together.
> 
> As you can see...this turned into quite a big chapter given how it all merely started from my desire to write an evil Inori fighting Ayase :P
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter since I sure as hell enjoyed writing it. Here are some deleted scenes I couldn't quite fit into the story as the rules changed:
> 
> Shu: *sitting on his throne, good and evil Inori sitting on their respective thrones on either of his side* *raising a brow* Did you really impale Ayase with a halberd?"
> 
> Antinori: *smirks proudly with closed eyes as she fold her arms together in front of her chest* Like a popsicle.
> 
> Posinori: *frowns in disdain* That's cold...
> 
> -GC-
> 
> Inori: Shu has actually quite the fantasy. There are a lot of versions of us around. *points at another version of herself*
> 
> Officer Inori: *blows whistle* Stop right there, criminal scum! You have violated the law!
> 
> Lawyer Inori: *adjusts glasses confidently* Objection, your honor. My guilty king can't possibly be this cute.
> 
> Nurse Inori: Please, state the nature of your medical emergency. The doctor is on the way.
> 
> Doctor Inori: It's Lupus...
> 
> Another Doctor Inori with a walking cane: It's never Lupus, idiot.
> 
> Ayase: *sweatdrop* I think I have seen enough...
> 
> Inori: *nods in agreement* The rest is boring anyway. For some reason, they are all naked...
> 
> Ayase: *blushes madly* I-Inori! I think that's supposed to be private!
> 
> Inori: *tilts head* Is that so? But there are a few of your as well, don't you want to see?
> 
> Ayase: *dies of shame*
> 
> I think that should be all. If you liked this, please don't forget to leave a review. Make an author happy. Here is the discord link again, in case you missed it the first time:
> 
> www.discord.gg/EcF823z
> 
> Take care, until next time!


	3. Long live the Queen!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of you might be surprised about this, given how "Mind Games" was stated to be a Oneshot and already marked as complete. And to be honest, it already was. However, inspiration struck me and I got a nice idea for a follow-up chapter telling the story of a certain king's brunette pawn and the hardships she has to overcome on her journey in order to attain her strongly desired promotion. Note that this is not the extra-fluff chapter I had talked about in the A/N at the end of the previous chapter. If you guys still want that one, feel free to voice you interest and you shall, one day, receive.
> 
> That being said, this chapter is entirely optional and, if you happen to find Mind Games worked better for you the way it ended last chapter, you are entirely free to disregard this one and go on with your life.
> 
> As it stands, this is just a bonus chapter for anyone who liked Mind Games and would like a bit more of that. "A bit more" being the keywords here, given how this chapter is almost 35k words long and therefore beats the original Oneshot's length of 14k by a total of 21k words. :P
> 
> I hope you will enjoy it. Check the A/N at the end for more details about this chapter. Oh, and also: feel free to join my discord if you are interested and would like to talk about GC and my works. You can find a lot of background info there as well as nag me to finally update my other stories. There are also nice sections to explore such as the #funfacts section or the Reclaiming the Throne OST project I am working on at the side. Here's the link:
> 
> discord . gg/EcF823z

**Long live the Queen!**

Ayase opened her eyes, blinking a few times in confusion as she looked around.

She stood inside of a big building. As she lifted her gaze, she realized that the ceiling was pretty high up and was adorned with beautiful frescos typically associated with the baroque era. Squinting in an attempt to make out what the frescos depicted, she was soon to realize she couldn't quite see it from her position, given how the bright light from the various windows in this room made looking up quite the ordeal. A real shame, she thought.

On each of her sides were beautifully white marble walls lined up with polished oval pillars, each of them adorned by golden plating at the bottom and the top as well as banners decorated with a symbol that reminded her of what once used to be on Shu's hands. Above them, the infamous rows of windows were located. Judging by the sheer amount of light entering from outside, the brunette woman mused that it must be quite beautiful and sunny outside. No wonder it was so blinding to look up.

Directing her attention to what was in front of her at last, she realized she stood on a long red carped leading up to several elevated platforms, each connected by a small central stairway leading up to what looked to be a throne. Seeing that, it didn't take her long to realize that this must have been some sort of throne room. Upon closer inspection, she even realized that she stood on the lowest platform, as there was no lower platform to be seen behind her. Everything that wasn't covered by the red carpet was instead revealed to be a white and black checkered floor, not unlike a chess board's playing field.

Directly behind the throne was yet another window on each of its sides, impressively leading all the way up to the ceiling and engulfing the throne room with even more light.

Basking at the gorgeous view with a smile that attempted to rival the room's brightness, she took a moment to look down on herself and couldn't help but amazedly tracing her legs with her fingers, still in disbelief that she was actually standing on her own feet! Ah, what a marvelous feeling it truly was. So marvelous, in fact, that she almost failed to notice the sword sheath being attached to her belt as well as the leather armor she currently wore. A small buckler was also resting in her left hand, its weight feeling so natural to her that she hadn't even noticed carrying it in the first place. Looking at it closely, she realized the symbol of a pawn being engraved into its front side, thus eventually reminding her of what she came here for to do.

She looked up and forward again, nervously gulping down as she tried gathering her resolve. Yes, today was the day of her long awaited promotion, or so she had decided at least. The decision itself was up to her king, of course, but she was confident, no, _sure_ that he would appoint her his queen. He absolutely had to! Clenching her fist in front of her and shaking her head one last time to get rid of all her doubts, she eventually assumed a determined expression as she took her first step forward. However, she had barely placed her foot on the first step of the stairs that lead to the next platform when she could feel a hand being placed gently on her right shoulder-guard, causing her to stop in her tracks and turn around to the stranger in surprise.

The stranger in question turned out to be no stranger at all, as it was Souta's familiar face that greeted her. Giving her his trademark goofy grin he asked: "Leaving so soon?"

Ayase allowed herself to look at him for a second and realized that he had sported the same gear she had. A sword, a shield, light leather armor and the emblem of a pawn stitched on his chest, something she had going for her as well, now that she thought about it. So that's what it had been. She had found it hard to make out without a mirror before.

Realizing that the black haired man was expecting an answer, she cleared her throat embarrassedly and said:

"Ah, yes. It is time for me to go. Today is an important day, you know." She told him with a kind smile.

Souta, however, only scratched the back of his head nervously. "Are you sure you want to go? Being a pawn ain't half bad. Sure, we are low in the food chain, but we also have no responsibilities to worry about. No one ever expects anything from us, so we can never fail, only succeed. Plus, you already made it over to this side, so isn't this enough?"

She narrowed her eyes on him in disdain as she folded her arms in front of her. "You know, shouldn't you be a bit more supportive of me? Aren't we friends?"

He gave her an awkward laugh and shrugged. "Friendship is cool and all, but in the end we all serve the same king. If you manage to go up there and make him happy, then all is good. But if you fail and cause him to plunge himself back into darkness, we are all going down with him, remember that." With that, he simply turned around and faced away from the throne, thus leaving Ayase to do whatever she pleased.

She frowned at him. How weird of him to act like that. The Souta she knew wouldn't say something like that and then simply end the conversation so abruptly. It was almost as if he was trying to talk her out of it, thinking she wasn't good enough to become Shu's queen. She looked down as she bit on her lower lip. Maybe he was right? Maybe she was being hasty? Was she making a mistake, perhaps? If she stopped right now and remained a pawn for a while longer, nothing would change. She could still be with Shu.

But that's when she saw the flaw in that.

Nothing would change.

Yet she desired change. She had taken up the mantle of a pawn for the sole reason of becoming Shu's queen in the end. If nothing would change, everything she had done up to this point would have been for naught. No, she would not back down now. Today was the day. Today was _her_ day.

She pressed on.

"Good luck." She heard Souta say upon witnessing her decision.

"Thank you." Was her response to him. Neither of them turned around to face the other. She would be leaving "pawndom" for good.

She had barely even reached the next platform when she was greeted by a man standing in front of her, covered in full plate armor. Confidently and strong he blocked her path with folded arms, his helmet hiding his face completely aside from his closed eyes. When they finally opened, she was greeted by calmness and yet also seriousness.

"So you came, Ayase."

"So it's you, Argo." She recognized him by his voice. His armor was spotlessly clean and the symbol of a knight adorned his chest. A giant two-handed sword had been stuck in the ground next to him, its blade so perfectly crafted, you could reflect yourself in it. Knowing Argo, it was probably also perfectly maintained, too, allowing for the most possible efficiency there is.

"Indeed. I approve of your resolve to become a knight. The likes of you should not have to be mere pawns." He told her with a gentle nod and pointed towards his sword. "Come and take this sword in the name of our king and let's protect him like the knights we are."

For a moment she looked at the weapon next to him and thought about it. If she settled with merely becoming Shu's knight, she could still guard his happiness with her own two hands. Thinking back, she would have come pretty far considering how she had once been the black queen. Not only had she managed to get over to the right side, she would also become one of Shu's trusted knights, sworn to protect his health and honor. She looked down.

But was this enough? Was this what she wanted? A part of her told her that merely protecting Shu from harm would be good enough, but another part of her was screaming at her for being foolish to even just consider this. There was only one position she truly desired to be in, only one way for her to go. Forward.

That's why she eventually lifted her gaze again and told Argo: "I shall protect the king like your said, yet I won't do so from your side, but his instead."

His disapproval was evident from the way he closed his eyes and sighed. "Is that so…"

He then slowly reached out for the sword he had offered her just now and grabbed it with a firm hand, pulling it out of the ground and swinging it once before raising it against her.

"Then I am afraid I can't let you pass." He declared confidently, causing the brunette woman to glare at him angrily.

"Why?"

"You are a formidable warrior, Ayase, but that is the extent of your ability. You may be able to perform the duties of a soldier, but a queen you will never be. I cannot allow you to break our king's heart, as he would not be able to withstand it a second time. Without a queen, he may be unhappy, but even an unhappy king is better than a broken one."

"You're wrong!" She told him while unsheathing her sword as well. "Everyone deserves happiness! What good is a kingdom for when there is no happiness to be found in it?"

"Being king is pain. A king does not live for himself, but for his people. His sadness is but a small price to pay for the happiness of everyone else."

His words caused anger to surface from her heart as she glared at him with gritted teeth. "And you call yourself his knight!?" She stormed forward with a battle cry.

"A knight merely has to protect the king. His happiness is none of my concern, nor should it be yours." The knight explained to her as he lifted his sword up to strike it down on her. She blocked it with her buckler and attempted to counterattack with her own sword, yet failed to get through the plate armor. Noticing this, Argo used the opening she provided him with and kicked her back harshly.

"Your attitude is why he is so miserable in the first place." She told him as she rolled off of the ground and regained her battle posture. "The whole world got saved by him, yet none of the saved would extend a hand and save their savior! If everyone would just try to give a bit of their happiness back to Shu to replace the one he has lost, everything could be solved."

"Nonsense. We are just servants not even on his level. If he can't bring himself happiness, why should we be able to?" He now chased after Ayase in hope of overwhelming her small frame with sheer force.

She, however, waited until the last moment to sidestep and kick him into the back of his knees to make him lose his balance. Instinctively, he attempted to use his sword as a support to prevent him from falling over, but his brunette opponent blocked his sword with her own one and caused him to drop it. Without his sword, all he could do to catch himself was using his hands before he would fall face first onto the ground. However, when he looked up to see what Ayase was up to next, he was already greeted by a hit from her shield, thus finally bringing him to the ground completely. His attempt at standing up was stopped by a blade being held at his throat. Realizing his defeat for what it was, he eventually surrendered.

Ayase looked down at him with disgust, unable to even think that the man in front of her could possibly be Argo. Even if the gloomy man she had come to know for so many years now had really thought these things he had just told her, he would have never voiced these thoughts out aloud in the way he just had. She knew that the Argo she knew wouldn't be fine with Shu suffering for the greater good. At least not without trying to at least soften Shu's pain at least somewhat. Thus she couldn't help but ask:

"Are you really okay with your king hurting the way he is?"

"Of course not." He eventually admitted bitterly. "If the king was happy, everyone would be happy. But this isn't the kind of ideal world in which something like that would happen. The thing he needs in order to attain happiness has already been lost and like with most things that are lost, replacements only tend to work for a short while before they eventually break. Rather than giving my king some short lived happiness that only plunges him back into despair once it eventually falls apart, keeping him in his current state might be the kinder choice."

She eyed him angrily now. So this was it? He, too, thought she couldn't do it? That she would only break Shu's heart? Why could no one believe in her? Was it that, perhaps, they could see something she couldn't? Maybe her own wishful thinking made her selfishly press on with no regards of how Shu would feel? She turned around and looked up to where the throne was located worriedly, only to shake off her doubts once more. No, she thought, her feelings for him were genuine. From the bottom of her heart, she desired him to be happy. She would personally see to it that he would attain happiness with all her might. Failure was not an option. She knew she couldn't replace Inori, but she _could_ end his sadness. That she was sure of.

As she was heading for the next set of stairs, she noticed how Argo slowly got up behind her. However, contrary to her assumption of him chasing her, he simply rammed his sword back into the ground and placed himself next to it like he had before, facing away from her.

"I hope you know what you are doing." Was all he said to her. She didn't respond as she wordlessly turned around and climbed the stairs at last.

On the next platform, she was met with a certain black haired girl she was so familiar with. She was currently busy drawing some weird symbols on the ground which Ayase had never seen before, each of them aligned into a huge circle almost as big as the platform itself. Their use was at least as much a mystery to the brunette pawn as their meaning was, as she sure as hell couldn't read them. Since there was no way to figure out what her friend was doing, Ayase thought asking her outright might be as good an approach as any.

"Hey Tsugumi, what are you up to?"

"Ah, Aya-nee, good timing. I need your help with this transmutation circle." The smaller girl told her without looking up. Ayase noticed the beautiful scepter lying next to her as well as the cape she wore that sported the symbol of a bishop on her back. A pompous hat was neatly placed at her feet, as it likely would have fallen off her head during the process of drawing had she actually worn it, given how big it was.

"Sorry but I am kind of busy at the moment, you know." Ayase politely yet firmly declined.

"With what? Throwing your life away?" Tsugumi merely responded with an annoyed sigh, still not looking up from her work. Naturally, this angered her brunette friend quite a bit. Such a harsh thing to say, even for a cheeky girl such as Tsugumi. Narrowing her eyes at her in disdain, Ayase thus hoped she had merely misheard.

"Haaah?"

"You heard me. Look, I get it. Shu was kinda cool when he saved the world and I suppose he ain't half bad personality-wise, but the man's broken now. Whatever you fell for all these years ago is long gone. Don't you think it's time to move on and look for someone who suits you more? Why settle for damaged goods, when there are plenty of good men out there who would fall to their knees, begging you to marry them?"

Pressing her eyelids shut so strongly they even began quivering due to her anger, Ayase forced an evil smile on her lips as she responded: "Do I really need dating advice from a chronically single woman whose only non-female associates tend to be of the mechanical kind?"

Seeing her dark haired friend flinch at that comment, the brunette pawn smirked in self-satisfaction and folded her arms in front of her as she added: "Besides, if people have to beg for my love, they quite obviously aren't suitable for it in the first place."

"But at least they could offer you something. What could Shu possibly offer you the way he is now?" Tsugumi merely grumbled back at her, visibly annoyed.

Losing her confidence momentarily, Ayase was seen averting her gaze and playing with her hair awkwardly with a slight blush creeping up her face. "I would be plenty fine with just receiving his love…"

"Love…" She heard Tsugumi snicker at her derisively as she shrugged. "Is it really that important?"

"I would rather spend my days with a broken man who truly loves me than someone who could offer me the world, yet would only treat me like a doll." Ayase told her firmly as she moved her right hand in a way that suggested her smacking away the mere possibility of being with anyone else but Shu. The mere idea _disgusted_ her. There might be many men out there, but there was only one who viewed her the way Shu did. The way she wanted to be viewed. He was someone who didn't reduce her to her disability or her beauty alone. Someone who saw her for who she was and loved her for it. It was almost ironic, really. Shu may have been blind, but only he could see the things no one else could. Her heart.

Tsugumi eventually decided that she had heard enough. Finally letting go of her weird transmutation circle she was scribbling on the floor, she was seen getting up and putting on her big bishop's hat, followed by grabbing her scepter with a frown.

"Foolish. Such a thing as love doesn't exist. It's all biology at work, trying to get us to find some dude and spawn kids for him. Humanity sure is pathetic, huh? We learned of that fact long ago, yet continue to fall for the same trap as if we never learned anything. Rather than letting biology influence our decision, shouldn't we rather do so rationally?" The black haired bishop tried to reason with her. Obviously to no avail.

"You know, Tsugumi…just because you never fell in love doesn't mean it doesn't exist or has to be bad." Ayase said as she massaged the back of her neck, looking troubled. "In the first place, I think you might be spending a bit too much time with your machines if you really think people could just turn off their emotions like robots."

"If I can do it, so can you!" Tsugumi merely shot back angrily as she pointed at the pawn before her with quite some frustration. "Geez, why must everyone around me be so damn simple? I am trying to help here, but all I get is you dissing me constantly, so you know what? Fuck it. You. Shall. Not. PASS!" Slamming the end of her scepter against the ground once she had shouted the last word, the transmutation circle on the ground began glowing brightly. Ayase found herself forced to raise a hand to shield her eyes only to be greeted by a huge crystal Endlave that had appeared out of thin air by the time she had already lowered her hand again.

"Are you freaking kidding me…?" Ayase couldn't help but mutter with gritted teeth. "You know, boys actually play wingman for each other when they want to hook up with girls. And here I have you doing the exact opposite instead."

"Well excuse me if I actually care about the future. You and Shu getting together…pah. What for? To lick each other's wounds? Stupid. If you want somebody to lick you, get yourself a dog! And what am I supposed to do when you two don't work out and break up again? Don't force me to choose sides, damnit! I don't wanna stop being friends just because you two get awkward with each other! Why can't everything just stay the way it is!?" Tsugumi shot a barrage of complaints at her while raising her scepter and pointing it at Ayase, causing the crystal golem she had summoned to move.

"Why does everyone always assume it won't work out!?" The brunette pawn yelled in frustration as she charged forward. She knew herself that her chances of victory against an Endlave, even if just a crystal one which likely wouldn't be able to use any real weaponry, were pitiful at best, but if there was one thing she was known for then that she wasn't a quitter. Readying her blade in her right hand and holding her shield in her left one firmly, she faced the crystal giant head on.

Like you would expect, the crystal likeness of an Endlave was just that. An imitation. Made up entirely out of crystals, it didn't have the slightest bit of technological advantage a normal Endlave would have had. While it had guns modeled into its frame, those were just for show as the mechanics used to shoot bullets wasn't present. Even the wheels that normally would allow the mecha to advance with great speed were unable to function properly without the electronics present to power it. Whatever strange thing Tsugumi had done to create this thing, it was flawed to no end and therefore nothing else but a glorified crystal golem that could do little but move.

Even so, it was huge and although it was slow, from the way the ground shook with every step it took, it most certainly was heavy. So while Ayase didn't have to fear fighting a modern high speed Endlave on foot, she still had to face a heavy giant on her own.

With a valiant battle cry and more optimism than rationality in her heart, she eventually swung her blade against the giant's left foot. She knew all too well that expecting a positive outcome out of this action was naïve at best, but a certain part of her, namely the romantic side she hardly ever got to show, had really wished that the power of her feelings alone could have empowered her strike and shattered the golem in one clean hit. For that was how strong they felt to her at least.

Alas, this wasn't some convenient shounen anime you would get to watch on a Saturday morning. Feelings were certainly important and there was strength to be harnessed from them, but not _that_ much. Her blow against the crystal Endlave produced a loud sound not unlike the one people produced when walking against glass doors, but aside from that, the titan was unfazed. Much to Ayase's disdain.

"Aw, come on! Not even a crack?"

"You mean like this?" Tsugumi sneered and gave her summoned creature a nod. Following her command, the crystal Endlave lunged out in order to hit its smaller opponent. The construct was as slow as ever, allowing the brunette pawn plenty of time to dodge, but even though she had managed to avoid the attack, the same couldn't be said about the small earthquake that followed the impact. Unable to keep her balance, she awkwardly stumbled back and fell on her butt, quickly raising her shield to avoid getting hit by smaller debris that had broken off of the platform and were sent her way.

Once the dust had settled, there now was a multitude of cracks and a small crater to be seen on the impact site. Ayase gulped at the thought of what might have happed to her if she hadn't dodged the attack in the first place. Surely she would have made a nice pancake? Not that she particularly wanted to be one, of course.

Tsugumi could only fold her arms in front of her chest and grin at her friend as she exhaled out of her nose arrogantly. Showing the brunette woman a smug and toothy grin, she said:

"Ready to give up now? Good. Grab a scepter and I will teach you how to become a bishop. Maybe you will be able to summon a golem half as decent as mine with my proper guidance. And afterwards, we could talk about more suitable men for you to pursuit."

"You cheeky, little…" Jumping back on her feet, Ayase eyed her dark haired friend angrily. Oh she would show her…!

Slowly, she retreated to the edge of the platform. This, of course, caused the arrogant bishop to laugh.

"What's with you, eying me so defiantly, yet running away like a scared kitten? Come on, you are better than that, Aya-nee!"

"Shut up…who would face that thing head on? You must be nuts!"

"That's why I told you to give up, you know."

"Never!"

"Fine, have it your way." With a carefree shrug, Tsugumi waved her scepter around and commanded her creation to move forward. The heavy golem took one heavy step after another to chase its small opponent down. Yet, despite Ayase slowly getting cornered at the edge of the platform, she couldn't help but snicker evilly.

"Yeah, just come closer you big piece of junk…" she muttered under her breath.

The individual platforms leading up to the throne weren't that big. Probably just enough to let three of these golems stand on it, side to side. Still, if the brunette pawn played her cards right and lured the heavy golem close enough to the edge, she might just be able to…

"Now, get her!" Tsugumi yelled confidently once she saw the crystal Endlave towering over the pawn. Slowly, but surely, the creation raised its arm too crush her.

That's when Ayase decided to make her move! Waiting for just the last second, she eventually threw herself sideways with all her might, silently amazed at all the strength present in her legs. She had feared she might not make it far enough to avoid getting hit by debris, but ended up launching herself far enough to get away unscathed by the Endlave's heavy blow. While she couldn't quite avoid messing up her roll on the ground as she landed in the end, meeting the ground with her face was still a small price to pay in exchange for Tsugumi's loss.

As it turned out, the platform they were standing on had been massively damaged by the golem's first attack. Since Tsugumi, in her unending arrogance, hadn't held back in order to display her golem's unrivaled strength, it had inevitably ended up riddling the platform with cracks that even reached to the very edges of the ground, thus weakening the structure's integrity all around. Realizing this, Ayase had hoped that another blow could easily make part of it fall off.

Luckily for her, that's exactly what had happened. The second blow produced by the crystal Endlave ended up creating more cracks that eventually further fractured the ground and ended up with a big chunk of it, namely the part it stood on, to become loose. As the ground on its feet started to become unstable, the heavy golem attempted catching its balance by shifting its center of mass. However, with each step it took with its heavy feet, it only ended up further breaking the floor. In the end, a huge chunk of the lower right edge of the platform broke off completely, sliding down to the lower levels. As the crystal Endlave was still standing on that part, it naturally ended up falling down with it as well, breaking apart in the process once it crashed on the ground.

"N-no way…" Tsugumi could only mutter in silent disbelief as she blinked repeatedly, hoping she just wasn't seeing right. "That did _not_ just happen!" Now running over to the edge of her fractured platform, she placed herself carefully in front of the fracture and peered down to look for her creation. Once she eventually saw how broken it was, she put both her hands on each side of her head and shook it in despair.

"Nooo! My baby!"

"Oi, Tsugumi. What the hell are you throwing your junk down here for? Clean this shit up right this instant!" She heard Argo yell up to her, visibly angered by all that rubble ending up on his platform. This naturally pissed off the black haired bishop as she pointed her right index finger at him.

"What are you calling junk, you stupid ape! Shouldn't you be happy I gave your bored self an opportunity to use these useless muscles of yours? Why don't you actually _do_ something for once and do some heavy lifting instead of polishing your sword all day. And yes! I am aware of the double meaning!"

Argo's right eye began twitching in anger as he smirked at her evilly, rubbing his fists eagerly in the process. "Why don't you come down here and say that to me again? I would love to discipline that rotten tongue of yours!"

"Yeah, wouldn't you like that, idiot!" Tsugumi yelled back, using her finger to push down her right eye's lower eyelid, accompanied by sticking out her tongue.

"Aren't you forgetting something here, _Tsu-gu-mi_?" The deceivingly sweet sound of Ayase's voice behind her ended up sending shivers down the bishop's spine. Slowly, almost mechanically turning around with a nervous smile, Tsugumi faced her best friend.

"Ah, Aya-nee. Hello there. Come, give your best friend a biiig hug." She said with an inviting smile as she held out her arms for a big embrace. The brunette pawn, however, would have none of that. Smirking devilishly, she raised both her hands to put Tsugumi's head in between her knuckles, followed by squeezing them together with quite enough might to let her veins become visible on her hands. There was no mercy at all.

"Yeah, let me hug you with my fists!"

"Argh, Aya-nee! Stop! It hurts, it hurts, it huuuurts! Meanie! Gorilla! Let go!"

"I am half inclined to push you down towards Argo for all these things you said." Ayase told her angrily once she let her go after what felt like an eternity to the dark haired bishop. Facing her with teary eyes, Tsugumi rubbed both sides of her head and retorted:

"Why? Just because I am looking out for you?"

"You call that looking out for me? You sent a golem down to crush me!"

"So? It wouldn't have killed you! All it needed to do is stop you!"

"Why? Why can't you just support me!" Ayase yelled at her angrily as she took hold of both her shoulders.

"Because I can't watch you two fall apart again!" Tsugumi yelled back at her while slapping Ayase's hands away from her. Tears were now forming in her eyes.

The brunette pawn couldn't help but feel taken aback ever so slightly at that outburst. "What do you…"

"You think it's so easy! That you go up there and Shu will just accept you with open arms! But have you ever thought of what would happen if he would not? I still remember what had happened to you when Gai first died! How miserable you felt! And how Shu was a wreck after Inori died! Do you think I want to see that shit again? Do you!?" Tsugumi assaulted her, even pushing her back ever so slightly before calming down a bit, facing down.

"The Undertakers are no more. Everyone went away to live their own lives. You and Shu are the only ones I still see these days. Of course I want to see you two happy, but I know it is impossible. Even I can't repair a fried motherboard, let alone a shattered heart. Some things in this world are just beyond salvaging. If you two get together and then fall apart again, there will be wounds left behind none of you will ever be able to recover from. Besides, your breakup would tear apart more than just you two. How are all your friends supposed to deal with it once you two decide to walk different paths? We could all pretend that nothing's changed, but we both know that's not gonna work. Some will stick with Shu, some will stick with you, but all of us coming together again? It won't happen."

She shook her head sadly before eying Ayase again. "I won't let this family get torn apart. I won't let you two fall apart, either! If I can't fix you, the very least I can do is prevent further damage! So, Ayase…just stay down here with me. I'll teach you to be a bishop and we can both watch over Shu. And while we are at it. We can find you someone else. It will be fine, won't it? What do you say?"

Tsugumi's expression was hopeful as she waited for Ayase's response with a nervous smile. However, even though the pawn understood where her dark haired friend came from, she still shook her head in the end.

"I am afraid that's impossible, Tsugumi." She told her calmly.

"Why…?"

"Because I love Shu." Was her simple answer to that.

"So what? Big deal. Just fall in love with someone else. Shu wasn't the first man you fell for, was he?"

"It's not that easy, Tsugumi." Ayase sighed at her friend. "People don't want to be with someone they love just because they want to be happy. I mean, some people surely do, but…I want to be with Shu because I want to make _him_ happy. That, in return, would make _me_ happy. Does that make sense to you?" The brunette woman asked her friend somewhat sheepishly as she massaged the back of her neck. It was surprisingly hard to explain this to someone else.

Tsugumi could do little but groan at her. "It does and does not at the same time. If it would make you happy to just see Shu happy, couldn't you just leave it to someone else?"

"To whom, Tsugumi?" Ayase asked her amusedly. "You?"

"Buergh, no way." Tsugumi formed an X in front of her with both her arms. "Even if I had an interest in him, I wouldn't be masochistic enough to fight for his affection."

"See, there is your answer." Ayase told her with a sad smile, looking up into the direction of Shu's throne higher up. "It's true that a selfish part of me really wishes to be with him and have him for myself, but my wish to see him happy is even greater than that. If there was a woman who could be with him and keep his pain away, I would be willing to stand down and watch over his happiness from down here. It would be a bit painful, but it would be enough. But you see…there really isn't anyone willing to go that far now, is there? If it was Inori or perhaps even Hare, those two would have been willing to go through all the pain in the world to be with Shu, but they are here no longer. Who else would be willing to go that far for Shu, Tsugumi? Who would be strong enough to shoulder his pain?"

Her friend frowned at her. "You would be willing to go that far?"

"I would stop at nothing, Tsugumi." She declared determinedly.

"Even if it killed you?"

"If that's what it takes…" Her resolve didn't waver in the slightest.

Tsugumi sighed at that and shook her head in disbelief. "Your love was always this extreme…diving into enemy territory to save Gai, refusing to bailout even when he told you so, and when Shu was left behind in that darn GHQ base everyone had to practically drag you out of there since you would have gone right back to grab him otherwise, even though the whole building was already collapsing. Sheesh, why do you always go that overboard? You know, most guys would already be happy if a girl was just loving them enough to knit them a scarf during winter or if she was supporting their stupid hobbies."

"S-shut up. Everyone loves someone in their own way." Ayase told her off with a blush as she looked away in shame, playing with her hair absent-mindedly. So what if she loved Shu enough to risk death? It's not like she could regulate the intensity of her feelings like one could with the heat of a stove. She just loved him that much, alright? It wasn't a bad thing…besides, who said she _wouldn't_ knit a scarf for Shu? She would totally do that! She would even knit a pair of matching gloves for him to go along with it, no problem! Stupid Tsugumi!

"Well, at least you two match in that regard. After all, he is the same kinda idiot as you…pushing himself to his limits and even being ready to throw his life away for Inori. If you ever managed to get him to fall for you, undoubtedly, he would do the same for you, too. Really, I am all surrounded by idiots." The dark haired bishop scratched the back of her head in frustration.

"Argh, this is so stupid. I don't care anymore. Do whatever the hell you please." She turned around and moved back to the center of the shattered platform, putting down her bishop's hat and scepter once more in favor of producing a piece of chalk from her pocket. Kneeling down, she then proceeded to draw a new transmutation circle, probably to replace the one she had already used up to summon her now shattered crystal golem.

"So, does that mean I have your blessing?" Ayase asked her jokingly as she approached her from behind.

"Yeah, yeah. Go ahead and become the queen of gorillas, for all I care. Just don't come back to me crying if it doesn't work out." The younger woman told her scornfully as she waved her off, never looking back at her.

That's when she felt two arms wrapping themselves around her from behind, taking hold of her in a loving embrace.

"W-wha-?"

"Thank you, Tsugumi." She told her friend with a kind smile as she leaned her head on her shoulder.

For a moment, Tsugumi was silent as if unsure how to even respond, but it didn't take her too long to regain her composure.

"I get it, I get it, alright. Now go already, before I change my mind!" She told her brunette friend embarrassedly as she freed herself from the embrace and urged her to go on.

Ayase nooded in response. "I'll be off, then."

"Yeah, now get moving. Shoo, shoo!"

Ayase grinned as Tsugumi shooed her away, knowing full well that, although her friend was quite eager to tease Ayase about her feelings, Tsugumi was actually quite bad with expressing her own. She would rather push her friends away than admit she cared about them, even though she had already admitted as much earlier in their conversation. Oh well, it was just her way of expressing friendship, Ayase mused.

As the brunette pawn finally started ascending the steps that led up to the next platform, she was suddenly interrupted halfway.

"Aya-nee!"

She turned around in wonder.

"Don't you dare failing, you hear? I won't forgive you!" She saw Tsugumi yell up to her, now standing and looking at her with a cheeky grin.

This caused Ayase to smile. Raising a fist confidently, she replied: "You bet! I will definitely succeed!"

"You better! Now go! Be happy!" She waved her good-bye, still grinning. Ayase nodded as she turned around again, her confidence now stronger than ever.

"Thanks, Tsugumi…" She silently muttered to herself.

Then she started climbing the stairs again.

The next platform ended up to be the last one before the throne. Seeing this, Ayase's heart was filled with both, excitement as well as nervousness. She was getting close. Soon she would be meeting her king. Would he be happy to see her? Surely he would be. There was nothing that could stand between her and her promotion. There was no doubt!

"You are looking lively." These words suddenly pulled her back into reality. Directing her gaze at the source, she soon spotted a man her age casually sitting on the stairs leading to the throne. He was dressed like a noble of ages long past, yet his garments had been manufactured in a style that would suggest they were processed in today's age with materials and procedures not even available at the time of kings and queens. Yet, fancy as they were, Ayase got little to see of them as the majority was hidden under an elegant jacket with a cape thrown over his shoulders. This man could have easily come across as a general or court adviser, yet logic dictated that if she had started as a pawn and met a knight and bishop, this one's had to be a rook. Ayase was sure he must have worn a matching emblem somewhere on his body. Perhaps on the backside of his cape, since Ayase couldn't see it.

His weapon of choice appeared to be a halberd which idly leaned against his shoulder. Its blade looked spotlessly clean and reflected the light marvelously, yet the brunette pawn didn't doubt it was at least as deadly as it was pretty. Still, there was little fear in Ayase's heart, as the man's face immediately managed to drain all the respect she could have possibly had right off her. With a displeased expression, she responded:

"Of all the people who could be his rook, why you?"

"Oh no. Some unpleasant girl came up to me and questioned my qualification as the king's rook. Whatever am I gonna do now with my life now?" The brunette man mockingly responded as he leaned his face against his hand in feigned shock, never losing the playful grin he had sported from the very beginning.

"Who are you calling unpleasant, Yahiro?" Ayase replied angrily as she closed her eyes shut strong enough to make her brows quiver. "In the first place, shouldn't you be on the enemy side rather than this, being the turncoat that you are?"

His playful grin evolved into a mischievous smirk as he replied: "And shouldn't you be rolling around in a wheelchair, cripple?"

She narrowed her eyes at him in absolute disdain as she brandished her sword. "Alright, I get it. You wanna fight. Bring it."

Yet Yahiro could only chuckle. "Fight? Me? Far from it. In fact, you can go right through if you want. I won't stop you." He casually slid to the side to make room for her to take the stairs, inviting her with his free left hand.

Ayase, however, could only furrow her brows in suspicion. Now this was certainly odd.

"Everyone up to now was against me going up, yet you of all people are in favor? Why?"

He shrugged at that. "If I managed to beat you here, you would not be able to advance, meaning that you would be stuck here. You would become a rook and I would have to see and deal with you for the rest of my days. Before that happens, I will actually rather walk all the way down there to Souta, and beg him to switch with me. At least that way I would still be allowed to remain sane, right?" He chuckled.

"You….you…!" She tried to hold back her fury by taking deep breaths. In the end, though, she managed to collect herself and decided to sheathe her sword again as she approached him. "No, nevermind. If that's all, then I won't waste anymore of our time and be on my way." She passed him by without even looking at him. However, she had already moved way past him when he said something that made her halt in her tracks.

Never turning around to her, he just kept talking with a sad look. "There is also the fact that I owe Shu more than I could ever repay him. My task as rook is to protect him from danger, but why should I protect him from you, who is likely the only chance of salvation he still has left in this world?"

Taken aback by his words, Ayase nearly fell down the few stairs she had already taken.

"Wha-?"

"What is it?" He wondered with a soft chuckle.

"Everyone up until now was thinking I would only be hurting Shu, yet _you_ of all people are supportive?" She gave herself bewildered, yet he only kept looking with a melancholic smile.

"Why shouldn't I be? You are a strange and obnoxious woman, but you are also one of the purest gems I have ever seen. The likes of you cannot be obtained by just any man so I should consider myself happy that you settled for Shu of all people. Not that he would be unworthy or anything. Just that there would have been other, easier choices for you."

"What's with you…" Ayase mumbled awkwardly as she turned around, unwilling to face him with the slight blush on her face. "First you insult me, then compliment me. I don't understand you."

"There is nothing to understand. I am just stating the truth. You _are_ unpleasant. You _are_ obnoxious at times. But you are also strong, beautiful and pure. It's hard to handle you because you require a certain type of man for that. A type even better than me. And, seeing how I regard myself as quite a league above even other men, that already speaks volumes about your worth." He told her with a chuckle as he shrugged. "If I had to put it in words, women like you are like the stars. Marvelous to behold, yet unattainable. And rightfully so, because every star is actually a distant sun. Get too close and they will burn you.

Ayase found herself humming in an impressed manner at that analogy as she walked back down to take a seat next to him.

"Who would have thought? It appears there is more depth to you than I would previously have given you credit for." She told him with a teasing grin as she gently shoved his shoulder. But then she sighed tiredly. "Too bad suns are loners, hm? There might be many of them out there, but each of them is all by itself in its own little system, is it not?"

"Not quite." Yahiro told her amusedly. "They are often accompanied by planets. Irresistible as the sun is, they find themselves being pulled towards it, basking in its light and warmth. There are not many, but each of them is strong enough to keep the sun company without getting annihilated by its radiant light. Tsutsugami Gai was such a planet. And even Shu is one as well. However, he is a planet on the brink of collapse, his surface cracked and barren. Your warmth could give him life again, but his delicate state means that he could break with even the smallest mistake. Send him too much of your love and he completely dries up, roasted by your heat. Give him too little and he would eventually freeze up, effectively destroying every chance for him to recover. As a woman of your caliber, I am confident that you are up to the task, but the question is…should you? Shu is not the only planet there is. There may not be many and they might be harder to find the further away they are from you, but they might be more stable and, therefore, easier to handle."

Ayase looked down on her hands as she began fiddling around with her thumbs: "Tsugumi said something similar and perhaps you two are right. If I looked harder, maybe I could find someone else that I could maybe even fall in love with. The thing, however, is that I don't want to. Even if loving Shu is hard, even if it takes everything off me, as long as I can make him smile and laugh with me, I feel like all of the hardships I have to endure would be worth the trouble, you know?"

He nodded understandingly. "They say…" He looked up thoughtfully. "…that when you are born, several potential soul mates are born as well. Not necessarily at the same time and not always in the same country. Sometimes there are more, sometimes there are less, but there is always at least one. It is said that everyone gets a chance of running into their soul mates at least once in their life but it is up to you to notice and hook up with them, otherwise you might never meet again. Some people find their destined others, others get impatient and choose someone that was not meant for them, never getting happy in the end, and some even waste their chance completely and never meet their soul mates again. Only the luckiest ones manage to find several of them in their life. Shu was such a lucky bastard. Where others would be happy to just find one, he ran into three, but then he was unfortunate enough to lose two of them again. I think it would be nothing short of a wonder if he ever were to find a fourth, do you understand?"

The pawn sitting next to him smiled sadly. "Yeah. I think that, even if there was a fourth, Shu would never even attempt to love again. There is only so much pain your heart can take, after all." She told him thoughtfully as she hugged her knees and put her face on top of them. "I don't intend for Shu to ever need a fourth, but I just can't help but compare myself to Inori or even Hare. Both of them managed to ignite something in Shu that changed him forever. I want to do the same, but sometimes I wonder if I really could…if all of us were suns, I am afraid they might have shone brighter than me." By the end of her sentence, her face had already been buried in her knees.

Yahiro leaned back and looked up, humming thoughtfully. "That's true, each one of you was special, just as each sun in the universe is. There are many stars, but although they vary in sizes and types, they are all still stars. You, Inori and Hare, you all had the potential to be queens. Not all of you were or would have been the same type of queen, but each of you were worthy of the title. You may be the crudest and most annoying one of them all, but you still have what it takes to be a queen. Never doubt that. It's not a matter of you having the qualification or not, only a matter of you wanting to make use of it."

She looked up from her knees and offered him a gentle smile. "You really think so?"

"I wouldn't lie about that."

She got up slowly as she threw a glance towards the end of the stairs where her king waited for her.

"Then I guess it's time for me to claim my crown, huh?"

Yahiro looked at her from the corner of his eyes in silence as if hesitating to say something but eventually chose to speak up in the end: "I really shouldn't say this since, as Shu's rook, I am supposed to think of my king first and foremost, but…even though it would be good for him if you went, it would be bad for you to go."

This made Ayase raise a brow in surprise. "Huh, but you just said I could do it, no?"

He bit his lip and nodded. "I know what I said and I meant it. If you head up there, you will become queen. What I am saying is, you shouldn't."

"Why?" She asked him in confusion. It didn't make any sense.

"To become queen is a big honor…and an even bigger burden. You gain a lot, but…the things you lose in return…it's way too much. I got to see how kingship tore away at Shu's heart firsthand. A fate that would befall you as well. You will have Shu to help you get through it, just as he had Inori before, but it won't be pleasant regardless. Shu is my friend and I want to see him happy, but…you are a friend, too. I thought helping Shu gaining happiness at the expense of yours would be fine with me, but…it's not really. That's just the old me trying to resurface. The me I had sworn I had buried the same day I last betrayed Shu. It feels weird to say this now, though, as saving you from queenship might doom Shu in the end. If I want to help Shu, I would have to become the me of the past that was willing to betray others. However, if I refuse to become my old self, I end up betraying Shu again anyway just like before. Seems like I just never can do it right…" He told her as he put a hand over his face in frustration. Ayase, however, surprised him by offering him the kindest of smiles while placing a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

"You know, I think you might not be that bad of a person I always made you out to be. True, you are rude and keep pissing me off most of the time, but below all that macho and sarcastic bullshit of yours seems to be a good side of you I had never noticed before. I am thankful that you are worried about me and Shu, but you really don't have to be. Everything is going to be fine. After talking to you, I am absolutely sure now." She removed her hand and turned around, climbing the stairs again.

"You know, I lied when I said I wouldn't let you become a rook. You could easily just stay if you wanted to. It would be easier and we could continue to talk about stupid stuff while we watch over Shu from down here. It's not as ideal a solution than you becoming queen, but a slightly fairer deal for you as a whole, I think." The brunette man had little hope of his offer being accepted, but neither was he sure he wanted her to accept. It would be better for everyone if she were to reject, after all. Still, he couldn't shake off the guilt of setting her on a path she would never be able to return from, for better or for worse…

In the end, it didn't come as much of a surprise that Ayase would shake her head, never turning around or stopping her ascend.

"I will become queen." She told him reassuringly, looking forward with nothing but resolve. If anything, Yahiro could have mistaken her for a queen already from her aura alone. He chuckled slightly at his own stupid thought.

"Then all hail to you, _your majesty_." He said with a chuckle and let her go, choosing to silently believe in her.

Then, at long last, Ayase finally took the last step leading to the final platform. There was so much light up here coming from all the widows that it was almost blinding to look, causing her to turn around to shield her eyes. This caused her to see everything she had left behind to get up here. She could see the entirety of the throne room, all the platforms starting from the ones for pawns up to the one she had just come from. It hadn't felt like a particular long journey up until now, but looking down on her path from up here, she couldn't help but feel as if she had finished a tremendous adventure. Only now did she realize how tired her feet actually were, feeling as if she had been walking for years. The gear she wore, too, was looking worn and battered as if she had used them for ages. Her shield, in particular, crumbled and fell apart right in her hand from how worn it had become. It was almost as if she had used it to shield far more than just herself with it and now it was paying the price for it. As she was watching it slowly turn to dust, an exhausted sigh escaped her lips.

And yet, despite her fatigue, there was no regret to be felt in her heart. In fact, there was only pride over her accomplishment. As she gazed down on the path she had successfully travelled, a satisfied smile began adorning her lips.

"I made it." She whispered in relief as she closed her eyes in order to take this moment in. "I finally made it."

"Ayase." She was suddenly greeted by a voice she had secretly longed to hear ever since her journey had started. It was deep and strong, yet kind and calm. It was so welcoming, so inviting, that Ayase couldn't help but feel right at home just from hearing it.

Still, she was slightly startled by it for a split second, having utterly forgotten what she had come up here for as she had spaced out. With wide open eyes, she quickly turned around to face the man who had called out to her. And indeed, right there he was. Shu. Her beloved king, sitting calmly on one of the two thrones present here. He wore his old Undertaker uniform, which surprised her, yet had a king's red robe thrown over it like you would expect from a king of the old ages. On his head, a beautiful golden crown rested, decorated with various jewelries which she found matched his reddish brown eyes perfectly. In his hands, instead of a scepter you might have normally expected to see a king holding, Inori's void rested as it leaned across his lap. His left hand's index finger kept idly tapping its blade, producing melodious crystalline sounds whenever his flesh hit the weapon while his right hand was covered in the same crystalline material Inori's void was made of. At first it might have appeared to have fused with his hand from the way he was clinging to its hilt, but Ayase soon realized it was merely his void arm all along.

He was radiating so much authority, so much power, that it left Ayase no room for doubt that he, indeed, was king. In fact, from the way the light from outside kept surrounding the throne he sat on, you might even start thinking he was even more than just that. It was a sight so beautiful and inspiring, you would easily have gotten away calling it divine, even. It utterly took her breath way.

And yet, despite all of that, there was no arrogance to be seen on Shu's face. No coldness or detachment to behold. She was his pawn and he was her king, yet he wasn't looking down on her in the slightest. Instead all he offered her was a kind and welcoming smile. A look with eyes so warm and gentle, you could get the impression you were watching a warming fireplace burning away calmly in the middle of winter. It drew her in like a moth was drawn to light and so she slowly approached his throne without even realizing it. It was almost as if her brain had forwarded over control of her body over to her heart which simply yearned for his warmth. Had some rationality remained in her mind, she would have tried to shaken these thoughts off, blushing at them for being so entirely girly and embarrassing, but she did nothing of that sort. All she could do, in fact, was return his kind smile right back at him as she knelt down in front of him.

"My king, I have finally reached you." She told him contently.

"Indeed, you have." Shu gave her a nod. "I am sure your journey was hard and perilous, but I never had the slightest doubt that you would succeed. You were my strongest pawn, after all." His voice was filled with pride as he closed his eyes knowingly for a second.

"To protect my king, I will stop at nothing."

Shu's smile widened at that. "And I am grateful for that. So tell me, Ayase. You came this far to see me. What can this humble king do for you?"

Nervousness suddenly befell her and she had to try her hardest to gulp it back down before she spoke again. "I have proven myself to be your strongest pawn, my king, but a pawn's power has its limits. I wish to serve you better, yet feel limited by my rank's boundaries. With your blessing, I wish to be promoted."

"I see." Shu nodded understandingly as he gestured with his left hand as if offering her something. "Then a promotion you shall receive. You deserve it, after all."

Hearing this, the brunette woman's heart nearly skipped a beat from excitement. He approved! Shu gestured for her to come closer and, once she was right in front of him, slowly reached out for her chest as his eyes began glowing brightly. A glowing hole appeared soon after, in which the king plunged his hand into slowly, gently, as not to hurt her. Ayase closed her eyes patiently, embracing the strange sensation she had not felt in ages. How nostalgic it really felt.

"Then tell me, Ayase. Which rank do you wish to acquire?" He asked her calmly once he had taken out a small figure from her chest that looked like a pawn piece. As it slowly levitated in his hand, it began changing shapes. The first thing it changed into was the knight piece.

"A knight perhaps? Strong and courageous as they are, you would fit right in. If you became a knight, surely there would be no enemy capable of standing against you."

Yet Ayase could only shake her head slowly. This was not what she wanted.

Shu only smiled understandingly and changed the piece in his hand into a bishop.

"Then perhaps a bishop? Wise and powerful, they deal with threats even long before they manifest. With your ability, I am sure there would be nothing you couldn't foresee, no disaster you could not prevent. You would be a boon to the kingdom and your life would surely be a good one."

"Even so…I wish for a different position, my king." Ayase told him as she looked away, blushing ever so slightly. It was good to hear that he thought so highly of her, but it felt awkward having to decline all his suggestions still.

"Hmmm, is that so." Shu mused thoughtfully as he changed the bishop into a rook in the end. "You would be right to demand even more, of course, as you most certainly deserve it, but I would have liked to spare you the burden of becoming my rook. Rooks enjoy many a privilege, but also the responsibility to be close to me which puts them into great dangers. There are not many who would be willing to fill that position, and there are even less I would want to burden with it. Still, if you really desire it, I shall grant you this position with a heavy heart."

"I am honored, Shu. But this, too, is not the fate I have decided upon." She eventually told him calmly, thus forcing him into a corner. "There is only one position I will ever be satisfied with."

Shu appeared to be visibly troubled as the rook in his hand changed yet again. This time, it became a queen and as Shu's eyes rested on the piece, his expression became distant. Sad. For a while, he just stared at it in silence, his pain and grief so horribly obvious to the brunette pawn before him. When he failed to speak up for quite a while, she decided to snap him out of it by calling his name. An action that, indeed, brought him back to her, but failed to banish the pain visible in his eyes, unfortunately.

He shook his head strongly as he clenched the hand holding the queen piece into a fist.

"No…"

Ayase's eyes widened at the sudden refusal. "No…?"

The king, however, could only grit his teeth in what seemed to be pain and regret. "Not a queen. Never again. I won't allow it." He told her vehemently as he looked away. "You can be anything but that."

This caused her to get rather upset. This wasn't not what she had come here for.

"What? Why?" She demanded an explanation from him. But Shu would have none of that. His expression grew cold as he lowered his eyes on her threateningly.

"Because I am your king and I said so." At this point, the light from outside appeared to dim down. Was the sun setting outside?

"Now that's some bullshit and you know it, Shu!" Ayase growled at him angrily as she threw her hand through the air angrily as if to smack this nonsense away. "You know I won't settle for anything else!"

"That's not for you to decide." Shu merely answered harshly, obviously not intending to back down. "A pawn may promote, but the decision is up to the king."

"If that's so, I at least demand a reason for your decision. If you can give me just a single acceptable one, I promise that I will give up." She told him desperately, clinging to her desired destiny as strongly as she could. She would not back down this easily.

"A reason…?" Shu looked at her, visibly troubled.

"Yes! A reason! Just give me one good reason that explains why I can't be your queen!" She challenged him, being absolutely sure that there was none.

"So my wishes do not matter?" He asked her with an evil smile. "Just because you want to be queen, I should make you one?"

She growled angrily at him. "Stop trying to put words into my mouth I did not say. All I asked of you is to explain your decision in a way I could accept it. Can you do that or not?"

Both glared at each other angrily, neither of them willing to give the other any ground. Seconds passed which turned into minutes and, if you asked Ayase, the very same minutes might as well have become hours at one point, or so it had felt to her at least. Eventually, however, Shu's lips moved again.

"What do you want to hear from me, Ayase?"

"Look me in the eyes, Shu." She told him calmly, yet not without ever losing her stern expression. With eyes sharp enough to cut the air around them, she looked right back at him, never willing to falter to his very own cold gaze.

"Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't love me." She asked of him, careful not to let tears form in her eyes. She could not afford to show weakness here, or else she might crumble apart. Once that happened, her battle would be lost and Shu with it. If there had ever been anything worth fighting for in all her life. It might have been this very moment right here. Nothing else seemed to matter to her anymore. "Only then will I accept your decision and give up on becoming queen."

Shu, for his part, did not reply. His cold eyes were fixed on her like she had told him to, yet the words she had dared him to speak never left his mouth. Eventually, he began lowering his gaze until his hair covered his eyes and his shoulders began to quiver in an attempt to hold back whichever feelings he was trying to suppress.

"How could I not love you, Ayase…" He eventually told her quietly, his voice barely more than a whisper. Not that it had mattered to Ayase, though, as she had heard them well enough. And their meaning made her heart take leaps of joy as a result. Still, she did not allow herself to celebrate victory just yet.

"Then I will not back down, Shu. Not until I am your queen." She told him defiantly as she shook her head decisively.

"You don't understand at all, Ayase." He responded with a quiet chuckle. "You think because I loved you, you should be my queen. Yet it is exactly because I love you that I should try my hardest to prevent you from becoming one."

The light outside had completely dimmed down by now. It appeared to be night now and, following that realization, Ayase noticed how several torches began lighting up the throne room instead. It was only in that light that she began noticing something she had not been able to before. Shu's noble clothes were actually quite damaged on closer inspection. There were several cuts and burn marks on them, not to mention dried up blood. His beautiful crown had lost its gleam and even looked like the gold on it was falling off at parts. He now looked less like a noble king straight out of a fairy tale but a king that had fought on the frontlines of his very own war instead. From the way he looked, it was hard to tell if he had ever won it or not. Or could it even be that it had never even concluded in the first place?

"Shu…are you…alright?" She asked him worriedly after her initial shock had finally left her. She carefully tried to put her hand over his to show him that she was there for him. However, that was when she noticed that there were actually chains wrapped around him, binding him to his throne. Not too tight to actually hurt him or restrain his movement, but they were chains sturdy enough to prevent him from ever getting away from it again. For although they appeared to be slightly rusty from age, the brunette pawn could see from just a glance that they were unbreakable and heavy. All the rust in the world could not eat itself through them. Anyone who just looked at them would be able to understand that.

She gasped and took a step back. "Shu…" She didn't even know what to say. There were no words to describe what she felt upon seeing this. She had heard about the burden of kingship before but…she would have never expected something this _oppressing_.

Shu, for his part, only offered her a weak chuckle. "Do you see now, Ayase? Why you should not be my queen? Why I cannot drag you down to this hell just so I could be with you? Once I was selfish and allowed Inori to put these chains around herself to bind her to me and now not a single day goes by without me cursing myself for that decision. I could not protect her from this burden. Could not keep hold of her as the weight of my sins dragged her down to the bottom of the ocean of guilt. There I was forced to watch her drown. Slowly. Painfully. Holding out her hands for me to save her. And yet I could do nothing. Only watch and cry as she vanished into the deep abyss. I was powerless to protect her. A king who is as weak as I am does not deserve to have a queen. No." He shook his head as he lifted his right hand to put it over his face in shame and agony. "I will never allow anyone else to suffer Inori's fate."

Alarmed by this, Ayase quickly took hold of Shu's non-void hand with both of hers.

"I don't care what happens to me, Shu. Whether these chains bind me to you forever and the weight of my crown will be heavy enough to dig into my skin does not matter. I will shed every bit of blood and all the tears I have together with you as long as it means you don't have to do so alone anymore. So please. Make me your queen! Let us bear this burden together!"

A sad smile formed on his lips as he held out his void hand to gently place it on her cheek, slowly brushing a lone tear away that had escaped her eye.

"I am deeply honored by your readiness to go that far, but it is exactly due to this readiness that I cannot allow you to become my queen. Never again will I allow myself to see my queen be forced to pay for my sins. Never again shall anyone ever suffer the same fate as Inori did." He shook his head again slowly. "I did not deserve her love…and neither do I deserve yours."

"Like I give a damn what you think you deserve!" She told him angrily. "I won't just miraculously stop loving you just because you arbitrarily decided you shouldn't have it. And I will never stop fighting for you no matter how hard you try to push me away, you hear me!?" Feeling that he wanted to retract the hand he had put on her cheek, she desperately took hold of it and forced it to remain there.

"Listen, Shu: As long as we both feel the same for each other, there is no reason anything should keep us apart, you understand? Not. A. Thing. Any doubts you have. Any worries that keep resurfacing in your mind. Just push them away. If you can't do that, then just allow me to do that for you. I can put an end to your suffering, so just let me! Don't do this to yourself!"

Shu couldn't help but avert his gaze sadly as he opened the fist that still held her queen piece. Slowly, it reverted back into a rook, then a bishop, a knight and, eventually, back into a pawn, causing Ayase's eyes to widen as she realized what this meant.

"No, Shu! Don't do this!" She shook her head slowly as she saw the pawn sculpture dissolve into several silver threads which eventually returned right back into her chest. Her promotion was being cancelled! It couldn't be!

"I am sorry, Ayase. It's better that way…for the both of us…" He told her sadly, further infuriating her.

"Bullshit! You just keep telling yourself that! I won't have it! If you won't fight for your own happiness, I will fight for the both of us! You won't get rid of me that easily." She declared defiantly to which he offered her a sad look. Eyes so miserable they made her want to cry. For a short second, there appeared to be something that could have been hesitation, but in the end, she could only see pity in them. Strangely enough, it was not for himself, but her. He knew what he was doing was cruel, yet would still rather do this than give her what she wanted. She understood that he really believed the things he just said. That denying her a crown would be the kinder choice compared to actually making her his queen. She couldn't believe this man! Here she was, having faced an unbelievable hardship to get to this point and he…just…tried to send her back?

Like she would ever return!

Unfortunately for her, Shu was aware of her stubbornness and not at all helpless to combat it. He may have been a sad king set on his path of self destruction, but he was a king nonetheless. He still held power over people, so if he wanted Ayase gone, he would know the perfect person for the job.

His void arm began glowing as threads upon threads of dark origin began resurfacing from it. Gradually, they all flew through the air until they began gathering on the empty throne next to him. There, something or rather _someone_ was appearing. Hardly visible at first, like a ghost, but the more dark threads were fed into them, the more visibly they became. Until it was painfully obvious who it had been Shu had summoned.

Pink hair. Crimson eyes. Skin as smooth as silk. Ayase stepped back in utter shock upon witnessing her appearance.

"I-Inori…? H…How?"

The queen in question never responded. In fact, she didn't even look at the pawn at first. Casually she sat on her throne, one leg thrown over the other and letting her head rest on her hand in a bored fashion. She wore a fancy dress befitting of her title, yet strangely enough it was all in black and purple which was at odds of Ayase's memory of the pinkette's usual colorful way of dressing. Even her crown, which was undoubtedly beautiful and impressive, was decorated with rather dark gemstones which didn't befit her very well and offered a stark contrast to her rather bright hair. It was also adorned by many sharp spikes on which she could have easily impaled anyone with, had they only been small enough to fit on them.

Yet all of that aside, perhaps the strangest thing of it all, Ayase thought, was probably the harshness of her eyes. Inori had never been known to be an expressive girl in the least, in fact, for the majority of the time Ayase had had the pleasure of knowing the pinkette, Inori had remained rather expressionless, meeting the world and everyone around her with utmost neutrality. She never did show any form of animosity to anyone she had not been ordered to kill and yet, Ayase could nearly feel the blood in her veins freezing up the moment this girl laid eyes upon her.

There was a red glow in Inori's eyes which further amplified the hostility that was already present in that glare of hers. It was downright terrifying if the brunette pawn had to be perfectly honest. The way Inori looked at her was not like Ayase had ever been looked at by anyone before. That's right, it didn't even feel human at all. Rather than that, it felt more like Ayase was locking eyes with a demon instead. And not just any demon. It was the queen of demons. Such was obvious just from looking at her aura that felt so overbearing for Ayase, it almost seemed as if the queen was emitting dark mist around herself.

Her whole posture was filled with arrogance and superiority. The way she regarded Ayase? It was not unlike someone who only looked down on an insignificant and ugly insect. To this pink haired demon, the pawn was obviously not even worth the oxygen it wasted by merely existing. Normally, such an insulting behavior would have caused Ayase to get irritated, but with someone as menacing as this person, she could do little but feel fear instead.

"No…there is no way you could really be Inori. There is nothing of her to be seen in you…" Ayase realized as she gulped down her nervousness.

The queen, however, could only roll her eyes at that statement as she slowly got up from her throne. With one casual swing of her arms, a crystal blade grew into each of her hands, both of them sharp enough to produce dangerous sounds just from moving through the air. Slowly the pinkette placed herself between her king and the brunette intruder, forcing her to step back.

"What's the meaning of this?" Ayase demanded to know, looking at Inori and Shu repeatedly in hopes of either of them giving her answers.

Shu, however, did nothing to respond. In fact, he didn't seem to even register their presence anymore. He had begun looking down with a painful expression as he kept gritting his teeth in an attempt to bear it. The singer's sword he was holding in his hand was now turning black and was emitting a black flame that began consuming him, yet when Ayase noticed this and attempted to rush to the king's side to help him, she was blocked by that scary Inori who eyed her sternly.

**Look what you did, foolish pawn.**

Ayase gasped upon hearing that voice. Inori's mouth moved normally, yet those words filled the entirety of her mind as if she had yelled right into her ears. It was such a bizarre experience since it sounded like Inori's voice and yet it didn't. Like it was her voice, but something else was added into it. Furthermore, it was so loud, so unbearably oppressive, that there was no way to escape it. It bore itself directly into her brain even if she were to seal her ears off with her hands

There was no way to ignore, to disregard. Only to listen and to endure.

"What I…did?" She asked her confusedly.

**Why did you have to make Shu remember? Why do you have to cause him pain? Unforgivable.**

This made the brunette rather angry. "Cause him pain? I came here to protect him!"

Inori, however, eyed her with nothing but ridicule. With a disregarding hand motion, she seemed to forcefully shove Ayase's words aside.

**Protect him? You? Don't make me laugh. You are nothing but a pawn. You amount to nothing.**

"Which was why I came here to become queen…" Ayase explained to her patiently, only to notice how the pinkette narrowed her eyes at her threateningly.

**You do not have what it takes to be his queen. Now turn around and get back to where you belong or I will make you.**

Ayase drew her blade and pointed it against her adversary defiantly. "I will go nowhere. Being with Shu is my wish. I won't be denied! Not even by you!"

**Then let me show you, the difference in power you can never hope to overcome. I will show you what it means to be his queen!**

Inori's voice was angry, yet her expression remained cold, unfazed as she assaulted her with both her crystal blades. Ayase lifted her sword to block the first strike, only to be nearly knocked off her feet from the sheer force of Inori's blows alone. Shocked as Ayase was, it took everything in her might to not get overwhelmed by her as she relentlessly proceeded to keep hitting Ayase's weapon in quick succession. Her every move was fluent like a dance, yet as devastating as being hit by a car would have been. She was a force of nature, a whirlwind of blades that just never seemed to run out of energy. Gradually, the brunette pawn was forced to retreat backwards, unable to hold her ground. Until she had to realize that Inori had pushed her back all the way to the stairway leading back down.

**Pathetic.**

Without even the slightest sign of exhaustion, the queen finished her barrage of blows with one last strike against Ayase's weapon, finally managing to wear down her blade's durability completely and cutting it in half in a swift motion. Ayase looked at her sword in horror as she was forced to witness its steel falling apart and crumbling to the ground, only realizing now how every strike of the queen had actually seemed to be calculated from the very beginning. Every hit of hers, every blow Ayase had previously thought she had successfully parried, had inevitably turned her sword into a jigsaw puzzle that had been held together by what seemed to be sheer luck alone, only to have its parts finally be released upon the queen's final strike. As the various shards scattered in the air like petals of a wildflower blown away by the wind, some shards grazed Ayase's face and left nasty scratches which only served as further proof of the sharpness the blade had once held. And yet it had done little to prevent Inori from cutting right through it as if it had been made out of paper from the start.

Ayase eyed the woman in front of her with utmost horror as her cold, emotionless crimson eyes continued to stare at her as if looking right through her.

So this was a queen's strength? The power she had yearned for to protect Shu? She had always known it would be enormous, but to finally witness it firsthand…Ayase realized something worrisome:

This power…it was simply _inhuman_.

 _Monstrous_.

As those thoughts scurried through her head, Inori merely continued her assault by sending a kick Ayase's way. The brunette pawn cursed as she was able to see the attack coming, yet was forced to admit she was entirely unable to defend against it in time. As the blow connected, Ayase braced for its impact, but could have never expected the sheer force that collided with her body. Since the brunette soldier had had plenty of opportunities in her life as a former terrorist to experience blunt force trauma before, Ayase was fairly confident in her ability to estimate her opponents' raw physical strength and the damage to be expected upon getting hit by them. But where she had initially assumed she could take a hit from the rather frail looking queen without suffering severe damage, Ayase was to be taught otherwise yet again. The queen's kick did not hit her with the force of a mere woman's kick, but was instead filled with the power akin to getting hit by a charging bull.

"Imposs-…!" Ayase couldn't even utter that simple word as all the air in her lungs got squeezed out by that blow alone. Losing contact with the ground, she barely even acknowledged that she had been tossed back into the air before her vision began spinning once she started falling down the stairs. It had felt like an eternity before her world finally had decided to stop turning around itself at the end of her descend. Disoriented as she was, she was not surprised to see three images of Yahiro looking down at her with a face mixed with worry and pity.

"So I suppose it didn't go so well?" He asked her as he looked back up the stairs knowingly.

"You think?" She spat right back at him sarcastically, trying to get the three Yahiros in front of her to finally become one as she shook her head. Her body hurt all over, but fortunately nothing seemed to be broken. Not yet anyway. Catching one final breath, she eventually forced herself back on her feet, feeling some pride when she managed to keep standing on her first try, even if still a bit wobbly due to her dizziness. Before she could lose her balance, Yahiro caught her by the shoulder.

"Easy there, you should probably sit down for a second…"

The pawn, however, would have none of that. Eying the rook sharply, she took hold of both his shoulders before asking him fiercely:

"What _IS_ she, Yahiro?"

The brunette man raised a brow at her. "Who?"

Pointing back up the stairs angrily, Ayase replied: "Inori! Or whatever that thing that looks like her is!"

Yahiro, however, could only massage the back of his neck awkwardly. "She is the queen, obviously."

"A _nightmare_ is what she is!" She told him while grabbing him by his collar. "You said I could become queen!"

"Yeah, but no one said it would be easy…"

**More like impossible.**

Inori's voice loomed over them, causing them to face the stairs once more to see the queen slowly descending them. She had lost her crystal blades in favor of two pistols which she firmly aimed at the queen candidate. Each of her slow steps echoed in the enormous room like the rhythmic ticking of a big wall clock. There was no question of for whom its bell would toll in the end…

Not that Ayase would agree with that, of course. Taking hold of Yahiro's halberd, she quickly yanked it out of his hands.

"Gimme that!"

The big pole weapon felt unfamiliar and heavy in her arms, yet after taking a deep breath and calming her heavy beating heart, it almost felt as if it had become part of her body soon after. Her eyes became wary and her expression calculating. Assuming a defensive position, the pawn waited for an opportunity to strike like a venomous snake ready to go for the kill. Noticing this, Inori couldn't help but nod in acknowledgement.

**You have the eyes of a queen, I'll give you that.**

That was the moment she began unloading a hail of bullets on her.

**But that's hardly enough.**

Ayase, however, managed to remain calm even in the face of certain death. Her eyes flickered red and time seemed to slow down around her. Realizing this, she decided to try her hardest to maintain that glow in her eyes as she proceeded to swing the halberd around as if it had been her weapon of choice for centuries on end. Thanks to this, she eventually managed to deflect all of the incoming bullets right before her eyes began to flicker once more followed by losing the glow. And just like that, the magic was gone and all that remained was an overbearing state of exhaustion. Ayase was trying her hardest to catch her breath as she knelt down weakly, looking down on her hands in disbelief.

"What….was that?" She asked herself.

**It would appear you actually have the qualification to become queen.**

Inori's voice told her, not without some mild surprise lingering somewhere in it.

"Then why won't you let me become one!" Ayase asked her angrily. The queen could only shake her head slowly.

**Having wings qualifies chickens to fly, yet you will never see them roam the skies.**

"Why you…" Gritting her teeth in annoyance, Ayase allowed her fury to become the bravery she needed to overcome her fear of the queen. She stormed forward, weapon ready to strike as she roared her battle cry. Inori, for her part, didn't even attempt to move out of the way. Dropping her pistols, she just boldly walked closer to her enemy, not even seeming to mind the hostile aura Ayase gave off.

Once both women eventually met, from a logical standpoint, you would have expected Ayase to impale her adversary with ease.

However, with frustration Ayase had to learn yet again, that her expectations had been shattered again.

The halberd's blade had been caught by the queen's bare hand. With ease, even! Blood began trickling down Inori's arm as she clenched it firmly, yet such a sight was only a small comfort for Ayase who had realized the weapon would no longer budge under the pinkette's grasp.

"You've got to be kidding me…" Ayase mumbled in quiet disbelief. "That's simply impossible!"

**I have fought armies and found death in the arms of my king. Since then, for every day that had followed, I have had to watch him bear with the loss that came with my selfish actions. My heart screams in anguish as I am forced to watch him suffer alone. I** _ know _ **pain, Ayase. So why did you assume for even just a second that I would fear a mere flesh wound?**

The pinkette just eyed her with pure disinterest as she gestured at her minor injury with her other hand as if all it were to her was a mere annoyance. Then she suddenly grabbed the weapon's handle with her right hand while still holding the blade in her left, causing Ayase to lift her eyebrows in surprise.

**You spoke to Shu about shedding tears and blood, but do you even have any idea what you are trying to get yourself into?**

With no effort whatsoever, Inori simply pulled the weapon as she turned around halfway, effectively pulling Ayase with her since she had failed to let go of the polearm in time. From there, Inori used her unnatural strength to hurl Ayase high up in the air as she failed to keep hold of her weapon and got launched up by the sheer momentum alone. As the queen watched the brunette woman fly away, she casually adjusted her grip on the halberd as if it were a mere javelin. Then she took aim with eyes narrowed down in spite.

**I'll give you a taste.**

"Your majesty, could you perhaps consider not throwing-" Yahiro tried to object with a nervous smile as he realized what she was up to, only to get utterly ignored as she launched his weapon after Ayase anyway. The brunette rook could do little but watch it fly away as his smile turned into a frown.

"-my weapon away…" Welp, he wasn't going to see that thing again anytime soon…

However, before he could even consider complaining about it, Inori had already shot herself into the air by letting a crystal shoot out from the ground beneath her in order to give her a boost. Watching her go chase after Ayase, he could only ruffle his own hair in frustration as he sighed.

"Shu sure is popular with the strange ladies…"

-GC-

Ayase tried to suppress her anger and hatred for her adversary as she watched her floating up next to her, using a set of 6 black wings made of crystals to keep her airborne. A fallen angel of death, if you may.

**Now you have shed first blood for Shu. Soon, tears will follow, too. How does it feel, Ayase? Is it like you expected?**

The pinkette asked the pawn with a knowing look in her eyes, watching as Ayase struggled to even just answer.

"Gugh…" Instead of words, only blood left Ayase's mouth as even just breathing became an ordeal to her. And how could it not be when a freaking halberd was stuck in her chest, pinning her against the ceiling of the massive throne room? Her hands were on the weapon, trying her hardest to prevent gravity to pull her further down and the weapon thus further into herself, but as the weapon got covered in her own blood, so did her grip on it become slippery…

She cried out in pain once her hands slipped.

**I know it hurts. But you will have to know that this is only the tip of the ice berg. Once you become queen, pain like this may become a regular occurrence. Shu will try to shield you from it, but as a result this pain will become his as well. Do you think I will let this happen? To see him be in even more pain? I do not hate you, Ayase. But to protect Shu, I will even kill you, if I have to.**

"Try…me…" The brunette pawn called out to her in defiance, sending nothing but a confident glare her way. Sighing at this like one would do with a child that had said something utterly foolish, Inori merely grabbed Ayase by the throat with her left hand, while yanking out the halberd that pinned her against the ceiling with the other. Ayase winced at the pain, but never lost the resolve in her eyes.

**You still think you can beat me, but we both know…**

She looked down for a second before eying Ayase once more.

**Pride comes before the fall.**

Then she let go.

Given the throne rooms enormous size, a fall from the ceiling was potentially deadly, especially the further down you landed. Ayase was not delusional enough to assume she would survive it, but she had her doubts that this strange "Inori" would actually allow for things to end like this. The brunette might be wrong, but she had the feeling that there was a point the queen wanted to get across. Given their enormous difference in power, if the pinkette really had wished for Ayase's death, she could have ended her right at the very beginning, after all. So Ayase was almost certain she would get caught by her beforehand.

That, however, never happened. And as the ground inevitably approached mercilessly, so did Ayase collide with it.

Her entire body screamed in pain to such an extent that it should have turned her mad and the brunette pawn was almost convinced she was, for she actually believed she was more or less fine as she could already feel the intense pain growing weaker. Agony became horrendous pain, horrendous pain became just pain and even that ended up becoming mere discomfort until even that eventually faded, much to her surprise.

"How am I…still alive…?" She asked herself as she slowly got up and checked her body for injuries that weren't there. Aside from the hole in her armor that merely suggested she might have been stabbed in the chest before, there was _nothing_ there. No stab wound, no broken bones. Nothing.

"As long as we serve the king, he will protect us." Argo's voice told her as he approached her. Ah, so she had landed on his platform. "As long as Shu lives, so do we. But that also works the other way around. If he falls, everybody does."

"Is that so…" Ayase gave herself impressed. She did not flatter herself by claiming she actually understood how this worked or even going as far as to claim it made sense, but if that's how it worked, she would take it. "So this fake Inori can't kill me, right?"

The man frowned, which was the only thing Ayase could actually make up of his face that was hidden under his helmet.

"No, but there are worse things than death, Ayase." He warned her.

**Who are you calling fake, pawn?**

The queen's voice loomed over them as she gracefully landed not far from them, an evil smirk already present on her lips.

"You, obviously." Ayase told her fearlessly.

**Funny. Since I recall you being nothing but an imposter yourself. Even if you were to promote, deep down, you would always be nothing more than a replacement.**

"Like I care as long as Shu's happy. Besides, it can't be worse than what you are doing impersonating Inori."

The evil queen was seen putting a hand on her hips as she looked away in annoyance and clicked her tongue.

**You know nothing of my circumstances, Ayase.**

"Then why not try explaining them for a change?" The brunette woman countered with narrowed eyes.

 **What point is there in doing that?** **Where you are going, you don't need to understand. You will go back to be a pawn, oblivious to the king's pain and sorrows and you will move on, living the peaceful life Shu wishes you to have.**

"Who said I will go along with that?" Ayase denied her words fiercely, even smacking them away with her hand. "My path is not for you _or_ Shu to decide. Only me." She pointed at herself determinedly.

**I wish you wouldn't make it so hard on me. I will eventually end up being forced to do things to you even I wouldn't want to do.**

"Is that supposed to scare me?" Inori sighed at Ayase's defiance.

**I suppose not. Fools don't know fear, after all.**

"Oi! You may be the queen, but don't look down on Aya-nee, you meanie!" Tsugumi suddenly yelled from her platform further up, causing everyone to look up to her. Said dark haired bishop then built up some momentum with her right arm, followed by throwing her scepter Ayase's way. "Aya-nee, catch!"

Opening up her eyes in surprise, Ayase caught the object with little effort only to hear Tsugumi cheer her on soon after.

"Show her who's boss!"

Hearing that, Ayase could do little but grin confidently as she closed her eyes to thank her best friend silently. When she opened them up again, they glowed in a bright red.

Despite never having used a bishop's scepter before, she immediately knew what to do, so with no further ado, she raised it high in the air. At first, nothing seemed to happen, but then, slowly but gradually, the various scattered pieces of the destroyed crystal golem all around Argo's platform began moving magically. One after another, they lifted themselves into the air and began reconstructing themselves into the heavy Endlave Ayase had bested earlier. Once she was done with casting her magic, the crystal replica was as good as new and ready to receive her orders.

And so Ayase cast her scepter forward, telling her construction to march towards its new enemy.

If Inori was impressed by Ayase's handiwork, she sure as hell never showed it. All she did was narrow her eyes as she lifted both her arms next to her, summoning countless crystal chunks out of thin air herself. Once she was done, she directed her right hand at the golem, thus launching the levitating debris directly at it.

But that did not faze Ayase in the slightest. As she waved Tsugumi's scepter around, the golem produced a shield on its left arm and pushed forward as it brushed off the queen's heavy barrage. Noticing that it wouldn't work, Inori thus resummoned her blades and engaged in close quarter combat. Swiftly she danced around the tall but slow golem, riddling it with slashes and cuts wherever she went, undoubtedly trying to hack it into pieces not unlike she had done with Ayase's sword earlier, but this time, Ayase knew what she was doing and so any damage Inori was trying to inflict was already repaired sooner than it could take effect.

Once she saw that, Inori gave up on it soon afterwards, too. As she continued to dodge the golem's attacks, the pinkette eventually decided that, if she couldn't destroy the Endlave, she could instead just go for the one controlling it. And so she dove for Ayase directly who appeared to be wide open once Inori had managed to actually get past her crystal bodyguard. However, Ayase, having fought the crystal monster herself before, naturally already knew of that weakness as the thought of attacking Tsugumi directly had formed in her head back then as well. Just because she hadn't acted on it out of concern she might have ended up having to hurt her friend didn't mean she was oblivious to the existence of that weakness. And so she swiftly moved her scepter and ordered the golem to fall apart into various crystal pieces yet again. The countless chunks of crystals then proceeded to fly back to her and whirl around her in a protective barrier, thus shielding her from the queen's attack.

After Inori had been forced to abandon her assassination attempt, Ayase promptly ordered the crystals to reassemble into her golem that protectively placed itself between her and her adversary, towering over Inori threateningly.

"Well? How do you like that, huh?" Tsugumi yelled, visibly proud of her best friend being able to stand her ground against the queen this time.

**A futile struggle.**

Inori merely stated as she let the blades in her hand shatter apart as she shook her head slowly.

"So are you finally giving up?" Ayase wanted to confirm as she eyes the queen warily.

**A queen never gives up. I had just hoped I could avoid going this far…**

Inori said, sounding somewhat bitter about the situation. She was then seen stretching out her right hand to her side, followed by looking up into the direction where the throne Shu still sat on was. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, but then, gradually, more and more silver threads descended from above, gathering at her hand and forming something. A weapon. A sword.

Her void.

"H-hey, hold on! How can you…!" Ayase wanted to object when the queen had already swung the blade in a flash. Despite being clearly out of reach, the silver threads that shot out of the blade flew faster than anyone of them could have even seen them. If it hadn't been for Ayase's glowing eyes, she might have entirely missed them, in fact. Little did it matter since there had been nothing she could have done to avoid or defend against the strike. Its overwhelming offensive capability cut through the golem in one swift hit, causing the upper half to slowly slide off of its lower half. And just like that, Ayase's golem was destroyed.

The brunette's glowing eyes flickered once more as her power left her. By the time the glow had vanished, she was already on her knees, gasping for air. Meanwhile, Inori calmly and steadily approached, obviously in no rush to reach the exhausted pawn.

**Are we done here at last? Will you give up now?**

But Ayase, still gasping, only looked up to her and said: "A queen…never gives…up…"

This, for some reason, made Inori smile in approval, even if just momentarily.

**Maybe you wouldn't make a bad queen, after all. Just not Shu's.**

"Why…" Ayase gritted her teeth and clenched her fists in anger, looking down at the ground in frustration. "Why can't I be Shu's?"

**Because…nobody wants you to turn into…this.**

Was Inori's reasoning. Ayase, naturally, didn't understand what she meant by _this_ so she looked up in hope of fixing that problem, only to open up her eyes in horror at what she actually ended up seeing.

Before her stood _something._ Something that in its rough shape _might_ have resembled Inori…once, but had ended up being a sick joke that had gone against all laws of nature itself. Yes, indeed, in front of her stood Inori, yet you would hardly be able to tell with how much her body had been taken over by crystals. Hardly anything was left of her, save for parts of her face and the left side of her body. The right side had almost entirely been consumed by the virus. What made the sight even worse was that there were gaping holes where there should have been essential parts of her body. It was a wonder she could even stand upright at all. Maybe that was why her whole stance was shaky, as if even just keeping her balance without falling over was hard for Inori to pull off.

And yet, despite all these horrible things Ayase saw, perhaps the most shocking thing she made out were her eyes. So devoid of light, it was obvious Inori was no longer seeing anything with them, despite clearly looking right at her. These eyes…

They were like Shu's eyes.

"What is…this…?" Ayase barely managed to produce words in face of all this.

**This was me before I died. An image that has been burned into Shu's memory. An image I couldn't erase even after all the years of trying.**

"How…horrible. I am…so sorry…" The pawn voiced her sincere feelings and lifted a hand to place it on her shoulder comfortingly, yet retracted it almost immediately in fear of actually breaking her accidentally. A thought that wasn't surprising her in the least, given how fragile she looked now.

Ayase couldn't imagine the pain Inori must have had gone through in her final moments…or Shu's for that matter. He had never really spoken in detail about what had really happened that day and now she finally understood why. If every time he was asked he would have to remember this sight, it was no wonder he would want to avoid speaking about it. Heck, even Ayase felt grief at seeing Inori like this, and she hadn't even been remotely as close to the pinkette as Shu had been. This was a fate you wouldn't even wish upon your worst enemies, let alone your lover. It was just too cruel.

"Is this why you are…" Behaving like such a bitch right now. Ayase forced herself to gulp that thought down. This weird version of Inori was annoying, yes, but if _that_ had been the reason, the brunette could somewhat understand it…

Yet, to her surprise, Inori only slowly shook her head as she lifted her crystalline arm to look at it. Her eyes were broken, there was no doubt about it, but could she perhaps still see regardless? Maybe because this was some sort of illusion?

**I never particularly cared about this. By the time I had turned out like this, I had already been attempted to be erased by Gai before. I had already accepted death. In fact, hearing Shu's voice one last time was a nice consolation.**

The queen told her with a sad smile as she transformed back into her original form.

"That's a lie…there is no way you could have been fine with this…"

Inori eyed her sternly, but eventually gave in with closed eyes.

**Well, of course I would have preferred a different outcome. Sometimes I catch myself thinking about what could have been. Witnessing a future that never was meant to be.**

She shook her head dismissively.

**Nothing but pointless dreams.**

"How can you say that…" Ayase asked her, shocked at those words. "Our dreams are what make us human."

**Being human…It was something I was fascinated with. There was so much I wanted to learn. So much more I wanted Shu to teach me. If it was him, I am sure he would have been able to turn this monster into a proper girl.**

She sighed at herself. When Ayase looked at her disapprovingly, a knowing smirk crept up her lips.

**Oh spare me, Ayase. Do you think I wouldn't know what people thought of me? What you thought of me when you saw me appearing on that throne just now? It was written all over your face.**

Looking away in an attempt to hide her guilt, Ayase replied: "To be fair, you _are_ quite menacing the way you are now. I never used to think that way of you before."

 **You just didn't know me. Nobody did. Not even I did. By the time I had figured out who I was, I was already lost.** **But that was fine.** **Monster or human, it didn't even matter. All I needed to know was that I was me. Shu's queen that would become whatever she needed to be in order to protect him. That's why…**

She narrowed down her eyes as she directed the singer's sword at her threateningly and nudged her head towards the stairs leading down to the pawn platform. This caused the brunette to furrow her brows at her in defiance.

"Don't even bother. I won't ever go back there, so the only way for you to get me down there is for you to step over my dead body."

To her surprise, Inori actually lowered her weapon at this, although with a heavy sigh.

**Fine then. Hard way it is.**

Before Ayase could even raise a brow at her in wonder, with a mere click of Inori's fingers, crystal roots began sprouting all around the unfortunate pawn, effectively binding her in place. The roots crawled up her legs and wrapped themselves around her arms next. In a matter of seconds, she was completely trapped and no amount of force she was able to muster was enough to break her free again. Seeing this, the queen just casually approached her, letting go of her void in favor of creating a long, blunt crystal in her right hand.

"My queen, could you perhaps reconsider? Going that far is a bit…" Argo finally decided to butt in as he eyed Ayase worriedly. This got even Ayase slightly nervous since it had to be quite serious if even the overly serious Argo was getting nervous about something. Inori, however, didn't even look into his general direction as she continued to approach Ayase.

**I tried being reasonable. It failed. She has nobody but herself to blame for this.**

"Stop! I won't let you!" Now Tsugumi was seen running down the stairs, placing herself in front of Ayase with both her hands stretched out to her side protectively. "This is going too far, even for you!"

**Step aside, bishop. Or you are next right after her.**

Inori's eyes narrowed down on her coldly, yet the dark haired woman didn't budge, although she couldn't quite hide the fear in her eyes, either.

"I…I don't care!"

**I have no time for games…**

With a dismissive wave of her hand, a thick crystal vein shot out of the ground next to Tsugumi and effortlessly pushed her to the side before shattering apart again. Argo was quick to run to her side to check up on her, but Ayase could already see from her position that Tsugumi had been knocked out cold with just that simple move alone.

"Is this how a queen should treat her followers, huh?" Ayase spat at her in fury, nudging her head into Tsugumi's direction.

**Nothing would have happened if she hadn't gotten in the way. Nothing would be happening to you, either, had you just followed my order. It's because you all think you can do whatever the hell you want that things always end up being a mess.**

"If you wouldn't behave so irrationally, maybe people would actually follow you for a change."

Inori came to a halt in front of her, eying her coldly as ever.

**For the record, I don't particularly like doing things this way. But I will do what needs to be done to protect Shu. That's what it means to be queen.**

"I think you might have lost sight of what's really important about queenship, _your majesty_." Ayase told her with gritted teeth.

**Oh, so now a pawn wants to lecture me. How very rich.**

Inori said with a shrug that clearly showed her disinterest, followed by gripping the crystal club with both hands and slowly pulling it back to build up momentum for her next strike.

"Wait, what are you…" Ayase demanded to know with wide open eyes when Inori already struck. Mercilessly and without any sign or hesitation, she smacked the club against Ayase's left knee with enough force to make even the club shatter on impact, let alone Ayase's unfortunate bones. The poor pawn's horrible cries echoed all over the throne room while Inori merely reconstructed the broken club in her hand to mirror her earlier move on her other leg.

**Quit whining. The pain will fade soon.**

Inori said before eventually striking again, which caused Ayase to break out in tears, unable to bear the pain. It was so intense, so overwhelming, that she couldn't even form thoughts for a second. Her entire mind was preoccupied with one simple thing: Agony.

However, true to Inori's words, the pain was quick to fade again as the healing aura of the king embraced her. From one moment to the next, she felt being embraced by his warm, caring light as if he himself was putting his arms around her. And just like that, the pain was gone as if it had never been there to begin with.

However, something didn't feel right still.

Eying the queen with a mixture of hatred and confusion, she eventually asked:

"What the hell did you do that for when you knew it would get healed anyway? Just to torture me?"

Inori let go of the remains of her broken club and closed her eyes knowingly as she shook her head.

**My goal is not to torture you but to make sure you will never bother climbing up to Shu again.**

"Didn't I tell you that I won't stop trying until I am dead?"

**If that's so, let's see you standing up.**

The queen dared her with an evil smile, followed by shattering the shackles that still kept Ayase in place. Tiredly, the pawn fell to the floor, but when she tried standing up again to show the pinkette her resolve, she was shocked to notice that her legs would no longer heed the commands of her brain. Now visibly panicked, she opened up her eyes and began inspecting her legs. From the outside, everything appeared to have healed well. There was not a scratch to be seen on them. Even the bones were healed…

"So why…why won't they move anymore…?" She asked in utter despair, trying to get her legs to move again. To no avail.

**Even if you ask why, wasn't this how it's always been?**

"What are you saying…it was fine just now!"

**Ah, Shu appears to have forgotten that you were once paralyzed. I made him remembers and fix that flaw. Now you are closer to your true self. Do you feel queenly now, crawling on the floor like that?**

The pinkette explained to her with a dark smile as she squatted down next to her, leaning her head against her hand casually. Seeing this, something inside Ayase snapped. Her eyes shot open and began glowing in a bright red and, similarly to the queen in front of her, a dark mist began embracing her.

"How about I remind him **that you are dead? Will you vanish into oblivion, too?"**

Inori, however, only laughed amusedly with closed eyes.

**Now wouldn't you like that, huh? But why leave it to him? I am right here in front of you. Why don't you try killing me now?**

The brunette pawn didn't seem to think rationally anymore as her hatred for this woman in front of her made her see nothing but red. Had a bit of her rationality remained, surely she would have realized this bait for what it had been instead of falling for it hook, line and sinker. Desperately and in pure rage, Ayase kept attempting to grab the monstrous queen that had dared do this to her, but every time she stretched out her arms at her, the pinkette merely decided to dodge by distancing herself from her ever so slightly as if it was a mere game to her. Naturally, Ayase couldn't keep up, having to crawl forward whenerver Inori decided to make baby steps backwards.

**Wow, you almost got me there, I am so very scared.**

" **I HATE you."** Ayase growled at her, never ceasing her pitiful and futile assault. **"Why couldn't you have stayed dead!"**

 **I wonder.** Inori mused playfully before deciding she had ridiculed the pawn enough for now. **My turn now.**

She had barely finished declaring that when her right hand shot forward and grabbed Ayase by the hair, lifting her up brutally, yet with no effort whatsoever. The brunette pawn screamed in pain, but never ceased to eye her adversary darkly.

**With this, I have shown you the difference in our strength. Pawns should just keep to themselves. Do not attempt to climb up to Shu's level ever again, do you understand?**

Ayase spit in her face.

" **Fuck. You. How about that?"**

**I'll take that as a yes. Farewell, Ayase.**

And with that, Inori threw her backwards as if merely discarding a bag of trash for the garbage men to collect. Ayase could do little but rolling down the stairway, unable to lose momentum in any way until she eventually hit the floor once more to come to a halt. As she lied there on her back, arms stretched out to either side, she merely turned her head to either side to realize where she had ended up now. The pawn's platform. The lowest floor. Her point of origin. She was right back where she had started. As realization of her failure crept up to her, so did frustration manifest in her heart and, unable to resist it, she clenched her fists, closed her eyes and sent out a loud and bitter cry into her surroundings, filling the enormous room with nothing but her screams once more. Hearing this, Inori nodded in satisfaction and turned around, deciding that her job here was finally done.

" **You will become queen, he said. You have the qualification, he said."** Ayase growled to herself angrily. With her eyes still glowing red, she forced her pawn piece to appear in her hand, starring down on it hatefully. **"Bullshit. THIS is all I will ever be. Why did I ever even BOTHER!"**

With nothing but disappointment, she threw the pawn piece that had lost all worth to her away with as much force as she could muster, followed by burying her face in her arms and letting out the tears she could no longer hold back.

_Now that's not like you at all…to give up like that._

She heard a voice again. Like Inori's it was inescapable no matter how much she tried to seal her ears and ignore them, but it wasn't as forceful and oppressing as before. Rather than that, it sounded more akin to bells or maybe small crystalline fragments hitting each other ever so slightly to slowly and gently play away and create a harmonic symphony that was supposed to bring you peace of mind. However, little did it help to calm Ayase's head that was filled with nothing but chaotic thoughts.

As the brunette pawn was lifting her head that now felt heavy to her from all her tiredness, she realized with her blurry vision that in front of her stood the pinkette queen yet again.

" **You again. What do you want this time? Haven't you had enough beating the crap out of me? Leave me alone already."**

_I can't do that. I need you to get up there again and save Shu. You are the only one who can do that._

She had the nerve to tell her, causing Ayase to stare at her in utter disbelief.

" **Haaaah? First you kick me all the way back here and then you want me to get up there again? Are you mocking me?"** This had to be a joke. Who did this girl think she was? Just because Ayase was a pawn didn't mean this pinkette bully could do with her whatever the hell she-

Wait a second. After blinking a few times and allowing her blurry vision to become sharp again, the broken pawn noticed that, although the person in front of her most certainly was Inori, she somehow still looked different from before. For one, her dress was all pink and white and she had lost the dark mist following her around in favor of attaining some sort of soft light that radiated all around her. Not strong enough to blind you, but still enough to be noticeable. Even her crown was more neat now, having traded all these sharp, dark spikes for a more humble yet elegant tiara that would have barely even stood out from her hair, had it not been sparkling due to all the diamonds embedded into it.

The best part about this Inori, however? Her eyes didn't glow as menacing as the other one's did. Instead of regarding Ayase with nothing but coldness and hostility, this one was looking at her with kind and gentle eyes. No malice was to be found in them. That's when it finally clicked in Ayase's head.

She had immediately deemed the other Inori a fake as soon as she had seen her, so maybe this meant…

" **Are you, perhaps, the real Inori this time?"** She wondered.

To her surprise, however, this Inori could only shake her head with a conflicted looking smile.

_To say either of us is real or fake is hard as we are both and neither at the same time. Rather than saying we are fake or real, you could say we are both two halves of what makes us whole._

" **Am I supposed to get that?"** Ayase told her with a frown which caused the pinkette to smile softly.

_I would be surprised if you understood it with just that._

" **So are you gonna explain it to me, or are we doing things the cryptic way like your evil twin just did?"** The pawn couldn't help but growl as she remembered the other Inori and all the hatred that came along with it. The white queen in front of her, however, didn't seem to mind that at all as she merely brought both her hands together behind her back cutely.

_I could try, if you want. It might be a bit hard to grasp, though._

" **Try me."** Inori was seen clapping her hands together in front of her excitedly this time, giving her a determined grin.

_Alright. Leave it to me._

This made the pawn narrow her eyes at her suspiciously.

" **You are right. You aren't like the real Inori was, either. Not even close."** Hearing this, Inori could do little but blow up her cheeks in disdain as she put both her fists on each side of her hips.

_How rude. Do you want to know or not?_

Sighing at her in defeat, Ayase gestured for her to go on, thus effectively erasing Inori's pout form existence in favor of bringing out her smile once more.

_So, as you may know, I am dead. Or should be, more or less. Right?_

The pawn nodded slowly. **"I was shown your final state by the other you. I felt sorry for you then, but I am not sure I still am now, considering what she had done to me…"**

For some reason, Inori was seen attempting to hide a blush with her hands as she looked at Ayase with shocked eyes. Yep, this Inori was definitely fake as well.

_She showed you that? Sheesh, how unnecessary. But since you already know, it might be easier to imagine how hopeless my survival was._

" **I guess…"** Ayase agreed with her with a shrug.

 _Right, so, after Shu saw that, he decided that he would die with me, so he used his void to assume all the bad around him to take it down with him and join me in death. However, I am not sure whether or not he intentionally did it, but he ended up assuming my soul as well. And that opened up_ possibilities _for me, you see?_

Now Ayase was finally seen raising one of her brows in interest. **"What kind of possibilities?"**

Inori hid her hands behind her back again and grinned proudly.

_As the virus ravaged us, there was hardly anything left of us in the end. There was no doubt we would die, but that's when I thought: "I don't want Shu to die." So I kept thinking about a way to save him. Now, you have to understand that at this point, nearly nothing was left of us anymore. My body had nearly been nonexistent from the start and Shu's soul was being ripped apart by all the hearts he had assumed in order to cleanse them off the virus. But then it dawned on me. If his soul needed to be restored and I lacked a body anyway, why not use each other to heal the broken parts?_

Ayase merely blinked at her in utter confusion as she tilted her head ever so slightly.

"… **.What…?"**

_It sounds weird, I know, but I saw Shu fusing voids together to create better ones, and voids are basically souls, so what if I used mine to fix his broken one? It should have worked in theory, right?_

" **That's insane…are you saying you fused with Shu in order to save him?"**

She gave Ayase her brightest smile in response.

_Exactly! My soul became the glue that kept his shattered one from falling apart. You would not believe how happy I was once I realized it worked!_

" **But what does that mean for you, then…? Are you dead or alive?"**

Inori scratched her head in confusion.

_Both and neither? I mean, my soul lives on in Shu, but my body is long gone, so…_

" **Madness…"** Ayase couldn't help but mumble to herself, unable to believe her ears, but then she had to lower her gaze in silent acknowledgment. **"Then again, it would explain why you are still around. But why are there two of you?"**

Inori laughed awkwardly as she scratched her cheek.

_Well, since I am just a soul and not limited to a body, I am basically just a collection of emotions and thoughts which could be split apart and put together however you like. There is light and darkness inside everyone, and that's exactly the problem for Shu. You see, he assumed all of me, which means he assumed both, my light but also my darkness. That, in itself, isn't bad. But ever since I died, Shu ended up being depressed about it and seeing him like that ended up making me sad as well. This fed my negativity and caused it to become stronger. And since my darkness is now also his darkness, it naturally ended up affecting him as well._

" **That sounds like a vicious cycle, though. Shu gets depressed about your death which makes you sad, which makes your darkness grow and feed into his own darkness which will only make him more depressed in return."**

Inori nodded strongly at that, visibly excited that Ayase understood what she was apparently trying to make her understand.

_That's exactly it! So, if left to our own devices, Shu will eventually end up feeding into my negativity which will in return make him sink deeper into darkness. I can't let that happen which is why I had hoped you would help me save Shu._

Hearing this, Aysse had to avert her gaze in shame. **"I already tried that. It was no good."**

The queen frowned at that.

_That doesn't sound like the Ayase I know at all. Are you sure it isn't my negativity that has ended up affecting you as well?_

" **Well, your goddamn negativity is a damn bitch, let me tell you that."** Ayase growled at her angrily which caused the queen to sigh.

_Well, naturally. She is meant to be ugly since she is the manifestation of everything bad about me. If we were to split your soul in two, no doubt yours would be quite a handful, too._

"… **.I wanna kill her."**

_Yeah, see. That's not like you at all. You are supposed to be incorruptible, no? That's what makes you so perfect in Shu's eyes, does it not?_

This made Ayase close her eyes in disappointment and guilt. **"Shu…I failed him…"**

_Not yet. The only way you could fail him is if you give up on him. So stand up, Ayase. Stand up and fight._

The pawn looked up to her with teary eyes, clearly willing to fight yet also lost about the how. **"I can't. Not anymore. I can't win against your darkness."** She looked down in sadness. **"I can't become queen…"**

_Well, naturally. You are missing something crucial._

Inori mused as she brought a finger to her lips, followed by looking around for something. Once she eventually spotted whatever it was she was searching for, she went over to it and picked it up. Following that, she returned with said item while carefully brushing off any dust that could have gotten on it.

_There you go. How could Shu possibly promote you when you don't have your pawn piece with you?_

She told her cheerfully as she handed the object over to Ayase's hesitant hands.

" **But he doesn't want to promote me…"** She told her worriedly while looking down on the chess piece she carefully had taken back from the queen. This made Inori blow up her cheeks once more.

_Well naturally, since my stupid ugliness decided to interfere. But don't worry. This time, I will help you out. Once we get rid of her, Shu will finally see reason again. So, Ayase, what do you say? Shall we go save our king together?_

She held out her hand for Ayase to grab with a smile that radiated confidence and inspiration. The brunette pawn could almost feel her own negative thoughts getting blown away from her purifying smile alone.

" **But** I **ca** n't wa **lk** any **more. H** ow **wi** ll we **cli** m **b** up **agai** n?" The red glow in her eyes flickered.

_How odd. I can't recall that ever having stopped you before?_

Inori told her with a playful grin, which caused Ayase's eyes to widen up in realization. That was…true, wasn't it? When had not being able to walk ever been an excuse for her to give up? So what if she had a handicap to deal with? She would make up for it with putting in twice the effort. She was Ayase motherfucking Shinomiya. She had beaten the most notorious Endlave pilot in history in combat. She had helped bringing down a corrupt government. She had played her part in preventing the apocalypse.

She was Shu's pawn.

She would fight for him until she drew her last breath.

The red glow in her eyes faded completely as confidence returned to take its place. The dark mist that had surrounded her let go of her soon after. Darkness had no hold over her. Ayase Shinomiya was, after all, incorruptible.

She was perfect.

And thus, with a big and confident grin, she took hold of Inori's hand and said: "Let's go and save our dumbass of a king."

_Spoken like a true queen._

Ayase did not know what she expected to happen when she took the queen's hand but what she most certainly had not expected was her void to suddenly appear on her legs in a bright flash out of nowhere.

"Wha…how?" Her surprise was met with a cheeky grin from the pinkette.

_Shu and I are basically one, so I might have borrowed his power a bit here. Is that cheating, what do you think?_

Ayase, for her part, only hugged the queen in excitement. "Right on, Inori! Like this, I can actually fight again!"

_Then shall we go?_

Nodding at that, the brunette pawn smirked as she turned around and gestured for the queen to hold onto her. "Hold on tight, your majesty. We are going fast."

_How exciting._

The queen giggled as she wrapped her arms around Ayase thightly. As soon as the pawn had confirmed that Inori was ready to go, she gave her void the mental command to lift off with quite a blast. Not only were they airborne in a matter of seconds, they were also reaching quite the speed, too. It was because of that, that it came to nobody's surprise that they were quick to catch up to the dark Inori who was currently ascending the stairway to the rook's platform without a care in the world.

Ayase couldn't quite withhold a mischievous smirk looked down on her unsuspecting prey from above. She could hardly contain the anticipation of finally getting back on her for all the things she had made her go through. Now, it was payback time.

_Ready when you are._

"I was born ready."

And with that, she dove down on her victim like a hawk, ready for the kill.

"Guess who's back, idiot queen!"

The evil queen had barely enough time to turn around in surprise when she was already colliding headfirst with the pawn's fist. Since Ayase had been crashing down with quite some speed, the force of the impact alone knocked her back hard enough to make her smash into the stairs behind her.

**Urgh…how!?**

She grunted angrily as she wiped away some blood that had begun leaking out of her bruised lip. When she saw Ayase floating in her own void, her eyes grew wide.

**Impossible…you shouldn't have been able to get that, unless…**

That was the moment the other Inori landed on top of her darker half after having jumped off of Ayase right after she had struck their adversary. Grinning cheekily, she asked:

_Hiya! Missed me?_

**You…!**

Visibly angered, the evil version of the queen was quick to kick her other half off her. However, the brighter Inori merely dodged the attack by jumping away beforehand, landing next to Ayase elegantly.

**Traitor! You would side with the enemy?**

_Enemy? She is our greatest ally! We need her to keep Shu save!_

**Wrong! No one but us understands Shu. Only we can protect him! So quit your stupid actions and come back with me.**

She held out her hand for the other Inori to take. The latter, however, only looked down and distanced herself from her more in refusal.

_That's what we have been doing for years and it isn't helping. It's time for change._

The darker Inori was visibly hurt about her pendant's unwillingness to cooperate. As she looked down, it became hard to see her face from how her hair began obstructing it. However, from the way her fists began trembling in fury and how the dark mist that surrounded her got even denser, it was fairly obvious she was more than just furious now.

**If you are not with me, you are against me. If you are against me, you are an enemy. All enemies shall be PURGED!**

She resummoned the singer's sword into her right hand.

_No! Can't you see your actions are corrupting Shu!? Stop filling his heart with your darkness!_

**Silence, traitor! If you won't protect Shu with me, I will do so on my own! I DON'T NEED YOU!**

With that, Inori's negativity charged forward to strike at Ayase directly. The brunette was already attempting to dodge when her ally was already in front of her, catching the blade inbetween both her hands.

_I won't let you destroy our only hope!_

Ayase was impressed at the positivity's strength to catch the blade with bare hands. That's the queen for you! However, her strength seemed to wane as soon as the dark Inori began putting in more force. The allied Inori was losing ground now. Ayase frowned in determination. Not on her watch.

Flying behind the hostile Inori that was currently preoccupied with trying to overwhelm her pendant, Ayase gathered all her strength and put it into one kick she directed against the negativity's head.

**Gah! Such insolence! Wait for your turn, pawn!**

Clearly irritated at having received her blow, the evil queen was quick to retaliate with one of her own kicks that connected with Ayase's stomach with enough force to send her flying way back.

_Gotcha!_

Using the distraction Ayase had provided her with, the kind queen forcefully yanked the blade out of her adversary's hands and wasted not a single second to swing it at her. However, even with the void in her hands, it was quite obvious that her darker pendant was far from done for. Letting a crystal blade grow into each of her hands, she commenced to parry every strike against her until both queens found themselves stuck in yet another deadlock. It became quite obvious that Inori's negativity was stronger than her positivity, which meant that even with the advantage of wielding her own void, the kind queen was still only just evenly matched with her opponent at best. There was no hope of either of them besting the other one.

**Now what? Will we both be stuck in combat forever while we watch Shu perish without our support? Is that what you want?**

_All I want is for Shu to become happy!_

**Idiot! Do you think I don't want that? But just because we want it, doesn't mean it is possible. That's not the kinda world we live in! Happiness does not exist for either of us!**

_It may not exist for us, but Shu still has a chance! That's why…_

The kind queen gave one final push and forced her enemy back long enough for her to throw the singer's sword into Ayase's direction who had barely enough time to catch not only herself but the weapon as well, looking down on it in shock. The power that surged from it was downright…unbearable. She felt like merely holding it would tear her apart. How could these women actually manage to keep using it? How could Shu have in the past?

… _I am willing to bet everything I have on her._

She finished her sentence with a smile before growing crystal blades of her own and facing her pendant once more.

**Fool! That will be the last mistake you will ever make! She will doom us all!**

_What difference does it make? If she fails, Shu will fall into darkness and if we do nothing, our darkness will push Shu into it regardless. Having faith in her is the only way._

**Never! I won't let this happen! We are his queen, not her. It is our job. Our burden! I won't allow anyone else to take it from us!**

The fight between the queens grew fiercer as both of them got so fast that Ayase could barely even keep up with their moves with her eyes. All she ever saw was flashes of light whenever crystal blades met and occasionally, she was able to see both queens for a brief second whenever they ended up in another deadlock. It was just insane! Holding the singer's sword in her hands, Ayase knew that she would only have enough strength in her to swing it just one time. All she had was one shot, and even that chance might eventually be taken from her if she waited for too long, since the void's extreme power was draining her from just wielding it. That was exactly the reason why she grew nervous the longer the fight kept raging on without her intervention. She couldn't get impatient and strike early, but she couldn't afford waiting for too long, either.

But then, finally, she heard the sound of crystal shattering apart, followed by both queens taking hold of each other's hands to prevent the other one from creating new weapons to use in them. An opening! Ayase's grip on the queen's void fastened as she forced herself to gulp down whatever nervousness she still held in her heart. This wasn't the time for hesitation or doubt. If all she had was this shot, she would have to strike true with nothing but confidence and resolve. She could do it. She HAD to do it. For her sake. For Inori's sake.

For Shu's sake.

She gave her void the command to advance.

**Who cares if Shu will destroy the world? It never deserved him in the first place. The only thing that matters is that he lives!**

_Idiot! Do you think he could ever become happy in a world in which he is the only one left? He will grow even more miserable! What good is being alive when there is no love?_

**Nobody could love him the way we did anyway. Nobody could understand him even when we were still with him! That's why having faith in others is just foolish. They are bound to let you down in the end! Everyone betrayed him, just like you betrayed me. That's why I will do it myself!**

_Then you are dooming Shu! I won't let that happen!_

"I vow to you both, that I will take responsibility! I will make sure that Shu finds happiness, so just rest assured and give me your blessing! I need to become queen!" Ayase declared as she approached both of them head on.

**I will protect-**

_I will protect-_

"I will protect-"

 **Shu!** _Shu!_ "Shu!"

They clashed. Ayase was sure they had, at least. The reason she couldn't tell for sure, was the fact that as soon as they had met, a gleaming light had engulfed them all. For what seemed to be an eternity, Ayase kept floating in a space of pure white with neither of the pinkettes to be seen anywhere. All that accompanied her was her void that still kept her afloat in the air, the singer's sword that still rested in her hand, now powerless, and the tiredness that had befallen her from merely swinging it once.

She could no longer hear the sounds of battle, at least, which she assumed was a good sign. All that was to be heard were faint sounds of crystal shards hitting each other gently. Now that she thought about it, perhaps the sparkling things she could make out in this white space had been small crystal shards all along. As she was wondering to herself what could have possibly happened when the three of them had clashed just now, she soon after realized she had become too tired to even think about it. With how peaceful it now was all around her, she seriously felt like just falling asleep here and resting up for a bit.

Alas, that was not to happen, as the various crystal shards around her began gathering up rapidly The brunette pawn wondered if they were getting put together to build or rebuild something again, but was unable to see what it was before the gleaming light returned and robbed her of her vision yet again. When she opened up her eyes again, she was standing on the throne room's highest platform once more.

"I am back." She said softly and with a weak smile, almost like a whisper, clearly not strong enough to even speak up any louder anymore. She felt the strength of her knees leave her and was forced to use the singer's sword as a crutch in order to not fall over.

There was no "Welcome home." to greet her back, even though she kind of had hoped for it. But that was not because Shu was refusing to greet her that way…it was more due to the fact that he couldn't.

The entire platform was engulfed in dark flames with Shu's throne in the center of it all. The man himself appeared to be unresponsive, only looking down on his empty hands as if lamenting his loss over something that no longer was resting in them. His face was twisted due to pain to such an extent that it broke Ayase's heart just looking at it. The pawn looked down on the singer's sword in her hand, then back to Shu and immediately knew what she had to do. However, the flames that surrounded him were scorching hot even from a distance. They were sure to burn everything that touched them into a crisp.

But even so…

Her expression became resolved as she steeled herself for the path she had decided upon. There was only one legitimate one, after all.

Forward.

She took her first step, still using the singer's sword as support. The sound of its crystal blade hitting the floor rung loudly on the throne room, being accompanied only by the sound of her void-covered feet steps that followed right after. Somewhere in the back of Ayase's mind, she had to chuckle because of this. It was as if Inori was leading the way for her to take. Even when she was no longer around, she was still telling her to go on, huh?

Clang.

Step.

Clang.

Step.

Clang.

Step.

The noise eventually managed to reach Shu, who decided to slowly lift his heavy head. Through the thick flames, all his strained eyes could make out was the silhouette of a woman slowly getting closer with unsteady feet. An image that had already burned itself into his vision many years ago.

"I…nori…?" He asked quietly.

"Not quite, Shu. Although you could say she is with me." Ayase responded, never stopping her approach.

"Ayase…?" He blinked and forced his eyes to focus. Sure enough, it was not the broken state of Inori covered in crystals approaching him like it always did whenever he thought back to his past, it was Ayase this time, approaching him and the flames that surrounded him. That's when his eyes widened up in realization of what she was doing and from one moment to the next, his tiredness got blown away as worry befell him.

"What are you doing!? Can't you see the fire? Don't come any closer! You will get burned!" He warned her.

"Is that so…?" Ayase asked with a smile as she came to a halt one step away from entering the dark flames. Sure enough, the heat alone was almost unbearable. Yet, even despite that, Ayase couldn't help but look into the flame with quite some fondness in her eyes. Sure, it was hot, but it was also beautiful. Ah, how even more beautiful the flames would become if only they weren't all black. Slowly, as if ensnared, she lifted her right hand to touch the flames only to realize her glove was catching fire immediately, yet she didn't cry out in the least. Retracting her hand, she just watched the fire eat away on the fabric that her glove was made of, realizing that the fire that it fueled was no longer black.

It was white.

That was all Ayase needed in terms of motivation to move forward. And so she did, much to Shu's horror.

"Are you out of your mind, Ayase!? Stand back!"

Inori's void was the first to enter the flames, immediately increasing the intensity of the flame's heat and size. From one moment to the next, as if Ayase had poured gasoline into it, the fire exploded all around her, now shining brightly in its new white color. Yet, despite it being used as fuel, it did not get burned by the fire at all. No matter how hot the flames got and how tightly they wrapped around the void, it did not receive even the slightest bit of damage which Ayase noted with a knowing smirk.

"You will never burn me, Shu."

Saying this, there was no hesitation to be seen in her as she followed after Inori, entering the flames head on.

"Ayase!" Shu cried out in fear once he saw her burst up into white flames, her worn armor getting caught up in the fire immediately.

"Goddamnit, Ayase. I command you to stop! Get back while you still can!" He yelled at her, now even trying to get up from his throne to get to her and save her, yet being entirely unable to since he was still bound to it by the chains Ayase had seen earlier.

"I am afraid I have to refuse that order, my king." Was all she had to say to that in response, sounding almost amused at this point.

She noticed how the material of her clothes was quick to burn away, but despite all that, there was no pain on her skin. Where the fires had been scorching hot before, scaring any being with even a faint sense of self preservation away in fear of getting harmed, Ayase could only giggle in amusement once she noticed that the moment she had entered the fire, the scorching heat had instead become a pleasant warmth that protectively and gently placed itself around her. She allowed herself to sigh in relief at the realization that Shu's flames were powerful enough to destroy anything, yet would not dare harming her. If she were entirely honest, there was also quite a bit of pride welling up in her because of this as well.

After all, this was testament to her worth to Shu. The undeniable proof of her importance to him.

In a way, it was, in on itself, a declaration of love.

It was because of this, perhaps, that Ayase found it quite ironic that the king himself could not understand that she was fine even when she was engulfed in his flames in all her entirety. It was funny how she had so much more faith in his feelings for her than he seemed to have himself.

Such a hopelessly stupid king.

Yet he was so very lovable even despite that.

Or maybe even because of that?

It's not like she could really understand it completely herself.

But was there really something to understand?

It's not like it mattered _why_ she loved Shu. All that mattered was that she _did_.

Clang.

Step.

Clang.

Step.

Clang.

Step.

"Ayase!" She could feel the king's arms throwing themselves around her the moment she had managed to get into his reach. She had to withhold a laugh at his actions. He was worried about her being covered in flames, yet would hesitate not even a second to embrace her burning self? For all it was worth, those white flames that were different from his current black ones could have very well harmed him, you know? Not like he seemed to care. Neither did she that she was now entirely naked, the flames having eaten away everything that hadn't been her. Which left her with nothing but her hair and her void. Normally she would have probably already have died from embarrassment, but right now there was no shame at all. Only happiness.

"I have returned to my king." She merely informed him with a voice filled with satisfaction, realizing she had done that which she had wanted to do from the very beginning. Even after having been pushed back to the very beginning, she had still managed to end up here in the end.

"Idiot, even though I told you to stay away." He scolded her, yet refused to let go of her. She wanted to return his embrace, yet wouldn't dare to let go of Inori's void in order to do so. It was too important to the both of them to merely let it fall to the floor now, was it?

"No matter how often you push me away. I will always return to you, for you are my king." She told him with closed eyes, taking in his warmth and scent. This moment alone was enough of a reward for all the hardships she had had to endure up until now.

"Why would you go that far for someone like me…?" He asked her with a painful expression to which she only responded by gently caressing his cheek.

"You already know why." Then she put a finger on his lips to prevent him from speaking up. "And don't you dare claiming you don't deserve it."

"Even after all I did…?" He asked her with sad eyes.

"What you did is of no importance. Rather than that, I care more about what you will do from now on."

"What do you mean?"

She closed her eyes knowingly. "I am still waiting for my promotion, you know. Before that, though…" She pushed him back into his throne and placed Inori's void back into his hands. "I believe this belongs to you."

Shu's eyes lit up upon seeing the sword being returned to him and carefully took it back into his possession, leaving no doubt about how much of a treasure he regarded it to be.

"Thank you. Without it, I feel like only half a person, as weird as it may sound." He told her with nothing but genuine gratefulness in both his eyes and voice. Ayase held back a chuckle. For all that it was worth, if the things Inori had said to her earlier were true, he might be actually right about that.

As soon as the void had returned to him, the dark flames all around the platform eventually died down and vanished without a trace. With the fires surrounding Ayase now gone, too, Shu finally seemed to notice her distinctive lack of clothes and was quick to avert his gaze.

"Sorry about your clothes." He mumbled as he tried to hide a blush which, for some reason, only caused Ayase to smirk at him.

"Yeah, right. If I didn't know any better, I would think it was on purpose. Pervert."

Shu couldn't find a good response to that, so he merely opted in on clearing his throat while handing her his king's robe to cover herself with.

"Does wearing that count as a promotion already?" She asked him jokingly.

"Are you really sure you actually want it?" He asked her worriedly.

"No, I actually just risked getting burned alive because I felt suicidal, you know." She replied sarcastically to which he could only frown and sigh.

"This isn't a game, Ayase. Becoming queen will change your life forever. There is no going back."

"And as we both already know, there is no going back for me anyway, as I would always just come back up here no matter how many times I get sent back." She smirked at him evilly. "Or how many queens you place in my way."

He looked away in guilt. "So you met her. Tell me, did she say anything?"

This caused her to raise a brow. "You can't talk to her?"

He looked down in sadness. "I can vaguely sense her with me and having her void is proof of the fact that she may still exist inside me, but whenever I summon her, I black out. I've tried so many times, it nearly drove me mad." Ayase saw dark mist starting to spread from him and opened up her eyes in alarm. Was this the cycle of darkness Inori had spoken about? His depression leading to her getting depressed which ultimately becomes his depression in the end, since he had assumed her?

"Shu, you will have to stop agonizing over it. It makes her sad, you know?" She told him worriedly.

"It's not like I can help it. I miss her."

"Oh believe me, she does too." Ayase said while trying to hide all the bitterness that tried to resurface just from remembering Inori's negativity and all the trouble it had caused her.

"Sounds like I made you face something bad, huh." He managed to see through her anyway.

"Inori's negativity was…a handful, let me tell you that. But meeting her positivity was really nice."

"I bet it was…" Shu couldn't help but smile as he appeared to think back about something, eventually, however, he snapped out of it again.

"So…" He said. "About that promotion you wanted…"

"Yes?" Ayase immediately tensed up nervously, causing Shu to gesture for her to calm down by making soothing movement with his left hand.

"Did Inori…approve or oppose?"

The brunette pawn narrowed her eyes in disdain. "Why? Is she to promote me or are you?"

This caused Shu to smile weakly. "Well, I already refused and you didn't care about that, so I figured if you could have a queen directly tell you how bad it is to be my queen, that you would actually reconsider, or at least be aware of the downsides to it."

Huh, that made sense. Sort of. Ayase wanted Inori's job, so having her tell Ayase all about it before she were to accept would have been a reasonable course of action. That being said…

"If you really had wanted her to give me a fair evaluation, you probably shouldn't have sent only her negativity at me you dingus!" She hit him on the head with gritted teeth.

"Well, I naturally had hoped she would focus more on the negative aspects if I only sent her darkness. Makes sense, no?" He explained to her with a guilty smile and attempted to shrug the matter off. Could you believe this fool? She grabbed him by the collar while offering him an angry smirk.

"Oh you _think_? Wanna hear what she did instead? Do you?"

"How bad could it have been? She probably ended up calling you a few names or something." He tried to play the matter down. Ayase's eyes narrowed down in disdain.

"She kicked me down the stairs."

"Well, that's…"

"She impaled me on the freaking ceiling with a halberd."

"WHAT, come on now, that can't be tr-"

"She broke my damn legs!"

"I am sure that was only her way of expressing the pain of queenship…" He told her while sweating horribly.

"How about I express the pain of _loving_ such a dork as yourself by beating you up right here and now, huh?"She thus replied with a scary smile. However, before Shu could respond to her threat, the light in his eyes left him and his head drooped idly to the side, leaving her surprised and worried.

"Shu? What happened?"

"Don't worry, he is fine." A certain voice from behind her informed her gently. Ayase, recognizing the voice and associating various conflicting emotions with it, was hesitant to turn around, yet couldn't really ignore it either. Sure enough, once she had found her resolve to face the newcomer, she was, again, looking into the crimson eyes of a certain pinkette queen. And like the other two versions of her Ayase had met prior, this one looked different yet again.

But for all that it was worth, Ayase had to admit that this one probably looked the closest to how she actually remembered Inori to look like after all these years. Her dress was made of vibrant colors of red and orange this time around and even her crown, while big and certainly pompous, was still somewhat cute since the crown's teeth were actually formed by petals of a half-closed flower. There was also a shiny brooch shaped like the same flower, although it's bud was now opened, revealing a beautiful red gemstone. The queen's expression was neither cold, nor overly friendly. Her eyes were sparkling with curiosity and anticipation and the corners of her mouth were slightly facing upwards in a very small smile.

Yes, indeed, there was no doubt. From all the previous iterations of Inori, this one probably hit home the most. Still, you never knew with these pinkettes in this place…

"So which kind of Inori are you this time…?" She asked her tiredly and wary. She sure hoped it wasn't another hostile one since, even though her mind was willing to fight for Shu as many times as it took, her body was in no condition to still do so, exhausted as she was.

Inori was seen frowning as if unsure how to even respond to that question. She tilted her head in thought, looked away for a bit, but eventually ended up saying: "I am me."

Ayase couldn't help but smile at that. It was barely an answer at all, yet something she would expect Inori to say. To her, the question was probably rather dumb. What kind of Inori could she possibly be when there was just Inori? Sure, she had been split apart and those parts could have been referred to as different Inoris, but the real one, the complete Inori would always just be that. Inori.

"So, is this really you? For real?"

The pinkette nodded slightly. "For real. I've wanted to meet you for so long. It's good that you are finally here."

"Yeah, I took quite a while, huh?" Ayase said with a weak smile, scratching the back of her head.

"One year, eight months, fifteen days, two hours, thirty-three minutes and five seconds since your confession." Inori told her with a deadpanned expression, causing Ayase to flinch.

"You counted?"

"I am good at multitasking now." The queen explained to her with a meek smile. When Ayase blinked, she was surprised to see herself being surrounded by multiple identical Inoris. Before she could ask, however, with another blink, they were already gone again with only the original Inori standing in front of her once more, putting her hands behind her back innocently. "One of the perks of living in Shu's subconsciousness."

"Sub…consciousness?" Ayase asked in mild bewilderment. Inori nodded and snapped her fingers. In a white flash, their surroundings suddenly changed into a sunny beach with both women now being clad in fitting bikinis. A sky as blue and wide as the ocean in front of them was now laid out above them and said ocean had waves crashing against the beach which was now filled with many random people. Ayase had barely finished looking around when Inori had snapped her fingers once more, changing the scenery into the apartment Ayase was currently sharing with Shu. Both girls were now wearing casual wear for lazing around at home. However, before Ayase could take a closer look again, with another snap, their surroundings changed into Tennozu High with them both looking younger and wearing their old school uniforms.

"Whoa…!" Ayase let out an amazed sound as she looked down on herself. In the end, though, Inori reverted everything back into the familiar throne room they had both started in. That was probably for the better, Ayase thought, suddenly feeling slightly dizzy due to all of this.

"When I became one with Shu, this is where I ended up being. And since I am part of Shu, I can control it. As long as I can imagine it, it can happen. I am using it to help Shu out during the day or for talking to other people by pulling them in here, like I did with you."

Ayase pointed at herself, visibly dumbfounded. "You brought me here?"

The queen smiled sweetly. "But of course. I am forced to act on the inside, yet Shu lives on the outside, so I naturally need an ally on the outside as well. I decided early on that it had to be you." She explained with a proud nod.

"Hold on." Ayase asked of her in confusion. "What do you mean " _You decided it had to be me_ "?"

Tilting her head ever so slightly, Inori replied. "Hm? Well, I could see it in your eyes. The way you kept looking at Shu. The same way I did. I made up my mind right then and there. I would support you in order to support Shu. With your help, I could finally finish rebuilding him. Once he is rebuilt, his suffering should end."

"This raises up more questions than it answered. First: You saw me? How?"

"Shu's eyes. I see through them. Which is probably the reason why he can't, unfortunately…" She looked down in sadness. "His own eyes were destroyed during the apocalypse. I gave him mine as a replacement, but they were broken, too, so…"

"Are you for real?" The brunette asked her with her mouth gaping apart, Inori only blinked at her as if to say: "What's wrong?"

"I am for real."

Realizing that this was Inori she was talking to, there was probably no use expecting a more detailed explanation to come out of her mouth. Seeing as to how this was all a bit hard to swallow either way, perhaps it was best to limit herself to merely understanding that which seemed to be the most important. Therefore, she asked:

"Okay, so what is this about rebuilding Shu?"

For some reason, this caused the pinkette to close her eyes and smirk knowingly as if to say "So you don't know, huh. Alright, let me teach you." With another snap of her fingers, the room changed into a school's classroom with Ayase sitting at a student's desk while Inori was seen standing next to the board, for some reason now being dressed like a teacher with her hair tied up neatly and a cute pair of glasses resting on her nose. Narrowing her eyes at the sudden change, Ayase couldn't help but wonder:

"What's with the setting…?"

Inori, letting out a small giggle, replied: "Do you like it? This is how Shu imagined I would look like if we had been able to go to college together. There was no exact teacher version for me, but I figured this one was close enough. Right?" She spun around on the spot to show off her new style. It suited her, the brunette had to admit. If Shu came up with that image, he sure had put a lot of thought into it. Typical. Given how lost in thought he was most of the time, he certainly would have had the time to think about something like this. Perhaps Ayase shouldn't have been surprised to learn that THIS had been where most of his thoughts had ended up bringing him to. Oh well, it was certainly better than constantly imagining end of the world scenarios, wasn't it? She looked down on herself and noticed that she was merely wearing her old student uniform, which was slightly disappointing, although understandable. There was no need to reimagine Ayase as a student when an image of herself already existed in his memory and could be used instead. Still, seeing Inori so happy about Shu's mere fantasy, Ayase kind of wished to see what he fantasized her to look like, too.

"Anyway. Back to topic." Inori cleared her throat and pointed at the board which suddenly showed a chalk-drawn image of Shu's heart on it. In return, this image was filled up with pictures of people Ayase knew, most of them being Shu's friends. Inori, however, took the biggest part, right in the center. Strangely enough, even though the caricatures were drawn on the board, they were still moving around as if animated on a TV screen. "This was Shu's heart before the apocalypse. As we can see: Healthy. But now, look at this:"

Inori-sensei tapped the board and the image changed. Shu's heart was now ripped apart into various pieces scattered all around the board. This caused Ayase to open up her eyes in shock.

"That's a metaphor for saying his heart was broken, right?"

Inori, however, could only shake her head. "No, it was literally ripped apart in the apocalypse. He assumed so many hearts and cleansed them off the virus that the virus ended up ripping his heart apart instead." She explained with a sad expression, but immediately lighted up afterwards. "Buuuuut!"

The image changed with another tap on the board. It showed Shu's heart, but it had been reassembled again. While you could still see the cracks on it, they were all held together by band-aids put on the various parts by a Chibi-Inori in a nurse outfit. Ayase had to give her bonus points for cuteness at least.

"When Shu and I became one, I used to opportunity to restore him. You could say, I literally became the glue that kept his shattered soul together, but, as you can see…it came with a price."

Ayase could see what the pinkette meant. Shu's heart had been restored, but in the center where Inori's image had used to be, only a gaping hole was left, thus creating a new problem.

"By becoming one with Shu, I ended up saving him, but I can no longer separate from him again or he would fall apart again. However, if the void I left behind is not filled, the restoration cannot be completed. A hole as big as this cannot be fixed with mere band-aids, after all."

"I see. So this is where I help out, right?"

"Exactly!" Inori gleamed at her excitedly and pointed at the board once more. She took Ayase's picture and placed it into the gaping hole. The board lit up in a gleaming light and, sure enough, Shu's heart was seen to be as good as new, now shining brightly with Ayase in its center and a bigger, ghostly Inori holding it all together with both her hands. The words "complete recovery!" flashed up under the illustration. "See, if we do this, it's our victory. Shu gets restored and everyone gets happy."

Raising her hand like a good student, Ayase then asked curiously: "So, does that mean you could come back afterwards?"

Inori could only shake her head with a carefree shrug. "There is no body for me to return to. But that's quite alright. Being one with Shu is more than I could have ever dreamt of. Plus, if we end up restoring him, I would no longer be required to stay in his subconciousness all the time to hold his soul together. This means he would no longer faint whenever I try appearing in front of him, so we could at least talk again!"

This caused a determined gleam to appear in Ayase's eyes. "Oooooh, and when that happens…"

Inori matched her expression. "The end of the cycle of negativity!"

The brunette pawn suddenly stood up with enough vigor to knock her chair back and raised her fist in confidence. "Then what are we waiting for, let's do it!"

The illusion of the classroom gradually faded and returned to the original scenery, including Inori and Ayase's appearance, although Ayase was now fully clothed again, a courtesy of the pinkette queen.

However, where Ayase was seemingly about to burst from the amount of confidence that welled up inside her, Inori was seen looking down worriedly as she folded her hands together in front of her awkwardly.

"However, Shu originally meant to have me talk you out of it and I would hate to betray the trust he has put in me."

Ayase couldn't help but groan in frustration. "You mean when our glorious king had the genius idea to split you in half and sic your negativity on me?"

Inori frowned at that. "I am sorry for what my negativity did to you, but don't blame Shu for something he couldn't have possibly foreseen."

"What do you mean?"

The pink haired queen sighed sadly and took a glance at the unconscious king resting on his throne. "In Shu's eyes, we are perfect. As far as he is concerned, neither of us is possible of doing anything malicious. You could say he has absolute faith in our innocence. In fact, he would even go as far as to downright deny any guilt we could have tainted ourselves with by taking it upon himself instead, claiming it had been his all along. When Shu split me into my light and darkness, he was physically incapable of even imagining me to ever harm you the way I ended up doing. Even when you told him about it just now, deep down in his heart, he absolutely refused to accept it."

Ayase frowned at that as well, realizing the problem in all of that. "That's so like that idiot…" She sighed.

"As you could clearly see, I am far from perfect. All the years of seeing Shu being so miserable have fed my darkness, yet if he would know of that, he would just take it all upon himself and suffer for it in my stead. While part of me is happy for the gesture, another part is angry at him for it. How can I protect him if he is not allowing me to take some of his guilt and pain upon myself? He thinks I would blame him for it, yet the sole reason I became his queen was so I could ease up his burden and carry it together with him. I don't need a painless life when it is spent watching him being in pain instead." She looked away angrily.

"I agree completely." Ayase said with a tired sigh. "He has a big heart and wants to protect us, but what good is it when his protection ends up destroying himself? I would rather lose my perfect image in his heart than losing him instead.

"Mh-hm." Inori nodded in agreement. After all, she herself had been ready to even abandon her own humanity to keep Shu safe. "Still, he isn't entirely wrong about everything." She had to admit in the end. Ayase looked at her in curiosity.

Inori narrowed her eyes, looking as if she was lost in thought. "He wasn't lying when he said that being his queen is painful. In fact, loving him was probably the single most agonizing thing I have ever gone through. Countless tears and unbelievable amounts of blood have been spilled. Something that could have been avoided, had I just never accepted Shu into my heart. Life could have been easier." The pinkette's eyes fell on her throne. "Should you accept to walk the same path as me, you will undoubtedly experience the same fate. I cannot blame him for trying to save you from it. Nobody would want their loved ones to experience such a life. So tell me, Ayase. Are you absolutely sure you won't regret your choice? There is no going back, after all."

"I appreciate your concern, Inori." The brunette woman told her with a sigh, obviously tired from hearing this over and over again. It was not like she didn't believe Shu or her when they said it was going to become hard, but still…she had known that all along and gathered her resolve accordingly. That's why she responded: "But tell me: Even after coming to know of every hardship that has befallen you as Shu's queen, did you ever regret it?"

This made Inori smile knowingly. It was at least as bright and warm as Shu's fire was, shining with enough intensity that it almost felt like she alone was illuminating the whole throne room by herself.

"Not even for a second. Everything that befell me. Everything I ended up becoming. All the pain. All the sorrow. Even death. It was all worth loving Shu for. Even if I could go back in time and redo my encounter with him. I would change absolutely nothing."

Ayase smirked at her, having expected exactly that answer. "You said you saw it in my eyes. That we are the same. So why the hell would you assume my answer would differ? This is the path I have decided upon and no one can force me to abandon it anymore. Not even you or Shu."

Hearing that answer, Inori closed her eyes and smiled in satisfaction. Yes, Ayase had indeed been the one she had been waiting for. When she opened her eyes, she took a look at Shu and said: "Sorry, Shu. I did as you wanted and she didn't care. Not that I had hoped she would anyway. It's fine with this, right?" Her gaze went back to Ayase as she stretched out her right hand into her direction. A glowing hole appeared on her chest.

"Whoa, what…" Ayase asked in surprise when silver threads started emerging from her chest, gathering in Inori's palm. When the threads started forming Ayase's pawn piece, it became all too obvious what the queen was doing.

"H-hey, isn't that supposed to be Shu's job?" Ayase asked worriedly.

"I am half of what he is. I can do it, too. Unless you insist on him doing it? We can do that, but he will likely just try to find a way to talk you out of it." Inori told her with a knowing smile. "We are never gonna make progress that way."

"Uuuuu~" The pawn whined in annoyance and blew up her cheeks in a pout. She had wanted Shu to do it, but Inori had a point. She had already tried asking him and he had just kept trying to find a way of avoiding the inevitable. Still, Ayase couldn't help but wonder: "Is this really okay? Aren't we going against his will by doing it this way?"

But Inori could only shake her head, giggling slightly. "I cannot actually do things he doesn't want to happen. The thing is…he may say he doesn't want you to become his queen, but deep down in the deepest parts of his heart lie his true feelings. He can't hide those from me. I can see them clearly and they tell me to proceed. Therefore, Ayase, this promotion, even if carried out by me, is Shu's greatest wish. Will you accept it?"

Ayase fought down the blush that tried creeping up her face due to her revelation. Shaking her head in the end to get rid of all these happy girly thoughts that tried to cloud her mind, she hastily knelt down in front of Inori and answered: "It would be an honor, your majesty."

"Then so be it." Inori's crimson eyes began glowing brightly, followed by the pawn piece in her hand changing shapes rapidly. Ayase could barely make out the shapes of the knight, bishop or rook before it had already changed into the queen piece. However, it didn't seem to be over with just that as Inori's gaze began growing even more concentrated and the queen piece that levitated in her hand started trembling with power. Soon it started to emit sparks of energy. Only few and very small ones at first, but as their intensity grew, so did the amount of them until Inori was basically being covered in them all over. But even then, she never stopped pouring energy into it. Ayase watched in awe, silently wondering how much energy actually had to be put into it in the first place. Seeing how hard it actually was for Inori, perhaps she had secretly opted in on doing it instead of Shu to save his already burdened state the additional struggle.

The queen piece eventually began glowing as if actually burning up. In fact, there was apparently so much heat gathering in it that it began glowing in pure white. Then it appeared to be actually melting only to have its liquid assume the shape of a crown before it hardened again. Once that was achieved, the glow faded alongside all the sparks, allowing Inori to let out a sigh of relief as well as exhaustion.

"Told you I could do it." She said with a proud grin.

Ayase couldn't reply. Too absorbed had her eyes become with staring at the crown resting in Inori's hand. _Her_ crown.

Finally.

Noticing Ayase's sparkling eyes, Inori offered her an understanding smile and pointed at the empty throne next to Shu while gently saying: "Take a seat, Ayase. You have waited long enough. We all have."

Ayase slowly got up and followed Inori's gaze to look at the abandoned throne that was soon to become hers. Slowly she approached it, taking in and basking in this moment. Everything she had worked for would finally pay off. Her biggest wish was about to become a reality.

When she finally stood in front of it, she couldn't help but notice the chains lying on the ground next to it. Old. Heavy. Rusty.

Bloody.

She narrowed down her eyes determinedly. As if that could ever scare her. She knew of the price she had to pay for this.

It didn't matter.

Without the slightest speck of hesitation, she turned around and took a seat, placing both her hands on each armrest firmly. This was her fate. Her destiny. Everything she had done in her life, she was sure she had done just to be right here. Her gaze went to her left where Shu still sat absent mindedly. A smile crept up to her lips.

All of it to be at this man's side.

Inori walked up to her, still holding Ayase's crown in her hands.

"I know you are already aware, but if you have even just the faintest doubts, this is your last chance to act on them. Once this crown gets placed on your head, your fate is sealed. I want Shu to become happy, but I will feel bad if you end up regretting this in the end." The pinkette told her seriously.

"Inori, if I ever end up regretting this, I want you to split yourself once more and send your darkness to finish me off. I won't even resist her, for she would have actually been right all along. A woman as pathetic to regret falling in love just because it is hard and hurts is weak. Someone like that does not deserve to be queen, let alone Shu's. I won't allow myself to put you two or myself to such a shame. No…I will be the queen Shu needs me to be." Her determined expression softened as she closed her eyes and then offered the queen a smile. "It would help, though, if you could silently cheer me on and believe in me. I am sure I will need all the support I could possibly get."

"Stupid Ayase…" Inori said jokingly and smiled. "You had my support long before you even became Shu's pawn. As long as I exist, I will do everything in my might to keep Shu happy. And as his queen, this will include you as well."

Ayase nodded happily. "Then I have nothing to fear. Please proceed, your majesty." She closed her eyes and leaned forward slightly for Inori to place the crown on its rightful place. Having confirmed Ayase's resolve, the pinkette nodded approvingly as well and lifted the crown up, gently bringing it down on her head.

"Shinomiya Ayase, pawn of the king, you have proven your strength, bravery and commitment in the service of the kingdom and have therefore been granted the honor of promoting to a queen with the consent of the king himself." Inori suddenly declared loudly and in a very official manner. "The kingdom gathers to bear witness to this event."

Suddenly, behind Inori, all the other pieces gathered and knelt down in respect.

"Tamedate Souta, head of the order of pawns, approves of this decision and swears allegiance to the queen."

"Tsukishima Argo, head of the order of knights, approves of this decision and swears allegiance to the queen."

"Sendo Tsugumi, head of the order of bishops, approves of this decision and swears allegiance to the queen."

"Samukawa Yahiro, head of the order of rooks, approves of this decision and swears allegiance to the queen."

"Yuzuriha Inori, first queen, approves of this decision and vows to fully support her in any way she ever needs."

Everyone was then seen looking over to Shu, who still wasn't looking as if he was paying any attention, blankly staring into the distance instead. However…

"I…approve…" Two words came out of his mouth as if he had forced himself to gather all his energy just to form them. It had barely been anything at all and yet more than enough. Everyone nodded in acceptance of the king's decision while Ayase just kept staring at him in utter shock as well as relief. So Inori had spoken the truth…deep down, when Shu was forced to lay bare that which he ultimately truly felt…

It was consent.

"So it is decided. With this, I hereby strip you, Shinomiya Ayase, of the rank of pawn and instead crown you Second Queen Shinomiya Ayase." Then, at long last, the crown in Inori's hands finally touched her scalp and an immense power began surging through her whole body. It was so overwhelming, in fact, she had to gasp and almost forgot how to breathe afterwards. Everything around her suddenly felt different from before as if her now glowing eyes could see things she could not see before. In all honesty, it was a sensation which, if Ayase had to describe it, would be akin to being completely reborn anew. A literally breathtaking experience.

But with the privilege also came the burden. The chains that had previously lied idly next to the throne, suddenly awoke to life and wrapped themselves loosely around Ayase's limbs, causing her to wince when their cold metal mercilessly bound itself to her. Like Shu, she was not restrained and could still move just fine, but separating herself from the throne she would never be able to do again for the rest of her life. A thought that made her somewhat sad, but ultimately didn't bother her as much as she had previously thought it would. So what if she could never leave again? She never had had any intention to do so in the first place. This was right where she had wanted to be. This was where she belonged.

Following that realization, the once old and rusty metal of the chains began glowing only to reveal completely restored metal in its place once the glow eventually faded again. No rust. No blood. A clean, fresh start. And not only that, her pawn's armor and gear had been replaced by a beautiful and spotless dress of pure white, further adorned by glittering gemstones. A clean slate for the pure diamond Shu saw her as. The only thing that shone brighter than her dress was probably the smile present on her lips. Like a kid that has received its first Christmas present, Ayase looked up to Inori excitedly as if to show it off with a "Look, look!"

"Seeing you this happy makes the part of me that is closer to Shu really happy as well." Inori admitted with a sly smile. "Sometimes it's hard to tell where myself ends and he starts. Is it me who is happy right now or is it Shu whom I can feel as well?" She wondered amusedly.

"Can't it be both?" The newborn queen asked her confusedly, causing Inori to utter a small giggle.

"Why, yes. That does make sense. It's been so long since we have both been happy about something at the same time, I could hardly understand this feeling for a moment." She noted with a sheepish smile. This reminded Ayase of something, so she excitedly asked:

"Oh yeah! Until we finish Shu's restoration, you can't talk, but perhaps you want me to give him a message? You two could talk through me, you know?" She shared her genius idea. Inori only smiled sadly.

"I appreciate the thought, but that doesn't work. I will have to release you soon. You may have already realized that this is Shu's subconsciousness, so everyone in here is merely their individual subconsciousnesses I pulled in here by hijacking Shu's void. Once this coronation is over, everyone will have to leave once more to their respective souls."

Ayase frowned. "I don't quite get it, but can't I simply tell Shu afterwards?" Inori's head shook slowly.

"A subconsciousness is, as the name implies, a subsection of your real conscience which is the you that you actually register as being yourself. It is so small, that you barely even noticed its absence in the outside world while you were here, meaning that, once it returns, you will barely notice its return, either. In other words…"

"I won't actually notice ever having been here…..do I?" Ayase's eyes widened up as realization slowly befell her. "Which means…I won't remember anything at all?"

"I am afraid not." Inori confirmed her worries with a gentle smile. "But while your real self won't actively remember any of this, your subconsciousness will. You would be surprised to know how much our subconsciousness unknowingly affects our daily actions. Believe me, I should know, managing Shu's subconsciousness and all. As long as you remember, you will affect whatever your conscious self is doing drastically."

"Even so…that's quite a shame, isn't it…?" Ayase told her with a sad look. "That just means I will forget you too, doesn't it?"

Inori frowned and raised a finger angrily. "Not forgetting. Just not remembering. There's a difference. The memory of this journey will still shape you from now on. Even if you can't access it. And when I feel lonely, I could always just pull you in here once more to share a cup of tea once in a while." She massaged the back of her neck nervously. "Unless you would rather not come back, which I could totally understand after what my darkness did to you."

"Oi, oi…" Ayase told her with a deep sigh. "You better pull me back here after I have rested up. After all, I want a rematch. I am gonna beat that negativity's ass, you hear me?" She smirked at the last part, letting her right fist hit her palm in anticipation for payback.

Inori laughed nervously. "Please don't destroy my avatars. The last time you did, I had to restart the whole fantasy again." She sighed. "That's quite hard, you know. Harder than getting Shu out of bed on a Monday morning. And that's next to impossible."

"Ooooh, so that's what happened." The brunette realized as she thought back about floating in that white space of nothing. Now that she thought about it, if Inori managed this place and someone destroyed her, that would be a logical result, given the lack of an administrator. "But on the other hand, you can't be killed again, so that's something, right? I mean, you came back from that just fine, no?"

"Well, yeah. You can't kill a conscience. I could always just create a new one unless you were to destroy that. It's everything that's left of me. My body, if you will." The pinkette pointed at the singer's sword resting in Shu's hands. Huh, so all that was left of her was her void. Seeing this made Ayase remember how she had initially treated the sword as a crutch, which, in return, made her blush madly in shame and wave her hands around in front of Inori in an apologizing fashion.

"Oh my gosh! I didn't mean to-"

"Relax. You would have to try way harder to break that." The first queen told her amusedly. "It was sturdy before and is now fused with Shu's, which makes it pretty much indestructible. You would have better luck crushing diamonds with your hands."

"Is that so…" The brunette couldn't help but sigh in relief.

"Anyway, it's nearly time for you all to depart. Wouldn't want you all to miss this big day, even if just subconsciously." Inori told them all with an eager clap of the hands.

The newborn queen, however, couldn't help but tilt her head. "Big day? Is something happening on the outside?

For some reason, everyone stared at her as if she had said something unbelievable.

"Oi, oi. Did you really forget? After nagging me for three months straight to absolutely not forget to come?" Argo said while massaging the back of his neck in annoyance.

"And all that after I spent so much effort convincing Arisa to come, too." Souta whined with drooped shoulders. "Nearly had to sell my soul for it."

"Screw that!" Tsugumi told him with gritted teeth. "I spent the last 6 months planning this event and she freakin' forgets."

"Nah, she just got cold feet, is all." Yahiro told everyone with a sigh and sighed. "I don't see the harm. We still get to eat, right? I mean, it's already paid for, so…"

"I think that might be an effect of having her stay in here for too long. It's time to wrap this up." Inori decided as she cleared her throat. Then, with a commanding tone, she told everyone:

"Rise."

The court stood firmly at her command.

"Salute."

Everyone brought their hands up to their heads and paid their respects.

"Cheer."

Everyone cheered in unison.

"Long live the queen! Long live the queen! Long live the queen!"

As they cheered, their bodies started getting more and more transparent. The less visibly they became, the more quiet their voices became as a result. Eventually, they were all gone until only Inori remained, now dissolving into silver threads herself, each and every single one of them returning inside Shu's void arm.

"Congratulations, Ayase. I will be watching over both of you." She told her successor gently.

"We will be in your care." The new queen bowed her head in gratitude. "I guess this is good-bye?"

"For now, yes. Take care. Until we meet again." Inori performed a humble curtsy and, following that, she was already gone. Not even a second later, Shu regained his senses again, looking around in surprise and confusion.

"Woah, what just happ-" His gaze fell on Ayase, now sitting on the previously empty throne. His shock was evident as ever, given how he clearly had expected for it to remain that way forever. Seeing it occupied once more filled his heart with many conflicting emotions to such an extent that it seemed as if he had lost his ability to speak for just a second. Ayase, for her part, couldn't help but wave her hand at him in greeting with a cheeky smile.

"Hey there, sleepy head."

Shu could only bring up his hand to his mouth, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Ayase…that crown…what have you done…!" He was visibly confused. But rather than anger, it was worry she was able to hear out of his voice.

"Inori promoted me, since you were so stubborn about it." She told him with an annoyed sigh, shrugging at him.

"She could do that…? Without my consent?" This made Ayase grin at him mischievously.

"What are you talking about? You agreed. Everyone was around to hear it."

"T-that can't be…!" Shu cursed as he held his head in frustration. "Did I grow weak in the end? I was supposed to resist." He narrowed his eyes in disdain. "And Inori was supposed to help. I can't believe she helped me doom you instead…she of all people should have known…"

"She doesn't regret it, you know." The newborn queen told him in a matter of fact manner, causing Shu to look at her in surprise.

"Eh…? What do you mean?"

"Becoming queen. If she had had the chance to go back in time and do it all over, she would always become your queen. To her, it was worth every second." She grinned at him. "And I feel the same way. She said I have the same resolve as her, so it must be true."

She saw Shu stare at her wide eyed, tears slowly forming in his eyes before he quickly wiped them away with a weak smile. "What's with you guys…here I am thinking about you and worrying about your happiness and then you go and disregard it all by throwing away the freedom I was trying to give at least one of you."

"That's noble of you. To think of setting the one you love free. But, you know, if she returns even despite having been granted freedom, doesn't that mean you are worth more to her than freedom ever will be?"

"Aren't you overrating my worth a bit too much? After all, I am just this good for nothing king who couldn't even give his pawn the promotion she deserved." He asked her with a defeated looking smile, causing her to offer him a loving one of her own in return.

"It's freedom that's overrated, really. It is meaningless if it is not spent with the one you love, wouldn't you agree?"

Shu chuckled softly. "Hmmm, I wonder why my queens tend to be so much wiser than their king, yet act so foolish at the same time. Both of you could have had the world, yet settled for a broken and foolish king instead."

Closing her eyes in mild amusement, she replied: "Well, I suppose that's true. We might be a bit stupid to fall in love with such a stubborn dork as you, but if being intelligent means disregarding the things your heart tells you, embracing ignorance might be the better option.

Hearing this, Shu's expression became awfully serious as he reached out to grab Ayase's hand determinedly.

"Ayase."

"H-huh? What is it?" She stuttered, clearly surprised by the sudden skin contact and the change in tone. A mild blush crept up her face.

"I still believe I never deserved to have either of you at my side," He told her while looking away in shame before locking gazes with her again. "…but now that it came to this, I swear to you that this time, I will not let anything bad happen to my queen again. You have my word." He bowed his head to her slightly, further intensifying her blush.

"Sheesh, w-who e-even said I-I needed your p-p-protection, idiot?" She looked away in obvious shame about her dishonest words. "In the first place, I became queen to protect you, got it?"

He smiled at her sweetly before bringing her hand up to his lips, kissing its back gently which in return sent electricity through her whole body and made her fear that the severe heat of her cheeks might become visible in the form of steam heating up the cooler air around her. "Thank you, Ayase. From today on, my life shall rest in your hands, so I hope you will feel at ease leaving yours in mine as well."

"Idiot." She muttered as she looked down nervously. When she looked up again to face him, he was given the most precious gift she could have given him. "There is no other man I would rather entrust it to."

The most beautiful of smiles, radiating the kind of warmth he had longed for ever since he had lost Inori. Just seeing it made him feel like he was being kissed by the spring sun which was just about to melt the leftover snow of winter. And as her light engulfed him, he could feel his own darkness melt away together with the snow. He sighed in relief, already feeling less burdened than any time during the past lonely years.

"If your smile alone is able to purify me to such an extent, I will feel guilty from hogging you all to myself, you know." He told her jokingly. "Your purity could be better spent healing the whole world."

She frowned at that in disdain. "The world wouldn't extend a hand for you when you needed help after saving it, so as far as I am concerned, the world can just go and suck it…"

This made Shu break out into a loud, amused laughter. "Oh no, am I already corrupting my untainted diamond?"

"I am incorruptible." She told him while shaking her head, but then smirked. "But now that I am yours, you will always come first."

"Careful now, Ayase. If you keep saying such sweet things, I am inclined to never let you leave this place again."

She narrowed her eyes on him, still smirking playfully. "What makes you think I want to?"

He shrugged sheepishly. "I am not too sure if keeping your subconsciousness away from your body any longer would be beneficial to you. So, even though it pains me, I will have to send you back soon." He chuckled slightly. "Although I doubt that with how much I am sure to yearn for your presence, my real self will be drawn to you immediately afterwards anyway."

This made Ayase blush once more. "Now that you are mentioning it, I sure hope I won't be doing anything stupid once I return."

"Well, only one way to find out, right?" He amusedly lifted his void hand and slowly pointed it towards her. "Return, Ayase."

This was the moment she noticed her awareness shifting. Her vision kept getting brighter and brighter until everything was engulfed in white, forcing her to close her eyes.

-GC-

Ayase felt something strange. From one moment to the next, she felt pride, love and happiness well up from deep inside her heart. It almost felt as if she had just returned from a long and extremely tiresome journey, yet one that had been worth every bit of hardship she had had to endure along the way. This made her frown for a bit, as she wondered what kind of journey she was currently feeling so strongly about for, yet couldn't quite interpret the feeling at all. True, today _had_ been a quite important day, but the only real struggle up to now had merely been suffering through this _abominable_ diet in order to actually fit into that spotlessly white and absolutely stunning wedding dress she was currently wearing. Her frown deepened as more frustration overcame her. Really, she had suffered and sacrificed so much to look good for this brunette dork next to her even though he couldn't even see it! She felt like crying! Just this once she had wished he could actually see not only the beauty of her heart but also her actual beauty! But that's when she shook her head slowly, realizing her selfish, girly thoughts for what they were. Then she smiled, throwing a small glance over to her groom from the corner of her eyes with a small smile.

Ah, what was she even complaining about? This was fine, after all.

She was currently sitting on the ground in front of the altar, Shu kneeling right next to her and holding her hand firmly as the pastor kept on preaching to them all about love, god and hope. The brunette bride had listened so intensely up until now, but as the most important question drew closer and closer, her maiden heart began beating more and more rapidly. Honestly, she asked herself, why was she feeling like a nervous school girl once more after all these years?

Her nervous gaze travelled around her surroundings, taking in the beauty of the cathedral they had managed to get wed in. Strangely enough, she felt as if its marble walls and sculptures were somewhat familiar. Like she had seen these somewhere before. For some reason, she then asked herself if the floor would be covered in a checkered pattern, only to disregard the thought instantly, wondering where this foolishness could have come from. There, however, were beautiful frescos present on the ceiling and a multitude of big windows allowed the big room to be bathed in the light of the sun that shone outside. It truly was a breathtakingly beautiful place to be wed in.

Behind her, all her friends sat in the first row, for some reason looking equally as worked up about something. Tsugumi was seen looking around like Ayase as if being reminded about something while Souta tried whispering something to Yahiro before Arisa who sat next to Souta was quick to elbow him for his lack of manners and told him to stay quiet. Yahiro tried to suppress a chuckle upon looking at Souta's apologizing puppy-look. That guy was totally whipped. Argo, in the meantime, was feeling visibly uncomfortable about his appearance; feeling like coming into the house of god with a haircut such as his could clearly be interpreted as rude. It's not like he was religious or anything, but there was no need to risk angering gods when it could be avoided, right? Next to all of that sat Kanon, silently shaking her head at everyone in disbelief. They had all been so calm up until now only to suddenly act all nervous and confused about something. Seriously, what was up with them? It was not like it had been THEIR wedding now, had it? Looking at Shu and Ayase in front of them, who seemed so calm and collected compared to this bunch, Kanon thought they could all learn something from them. Unbeknownst to her that secretly, Ayase was getting really nervous as well.

However, deep down, the feeling of not having to worry about anything started to spread out and in a matter of seconds, all her nervousness was gone.

And when the pastor finally asked the question she had waited to hear for such a long time…

" _Shinomiya Ayase , do you take Ouma Shu to be your wedded husband to live together in marriage? Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health and forsaking all others, be faithful only to him so long as you both shall live?_

…she, at long last, replied with nothing but utmost certainty:

" _I do."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, that's it. Done.
> 
> I was contemplating whether to end this chapter with them both kissing or with Ayase giving her "I do." In the end, I felt like the latter felt a bit more powerful, so I left it at that.
> 
> Speaking of changes, this chapter evolved greatly from its original concepts. The whole idea this was built on originally merely came to be because I had the random idea of having an evil Inori fight against Ayase, which I found to be so exciting to write, I actually tried really hard to construct a story around it.
> 
> The first iteration of "Long live the Queen!" actually was still written in Shu's PoV as we would go through another one of his darker fantasies. In it, he would end up destroying the world again until Ayase appeared to stop him. A dark Inori would end up getting in her way and they would fight.
> 
> This evolved into a version in which the story would instead be told in Ayase's PoV, still in Shu's fantasy, as he was surrounded by ruins he had caused himself, now burning up in the flames of his own darkness. He would be unresponsive and kneel on the ground, Inori's sword in his hand. Ayase would attempt to save him, yet a dark Inori would emerge from the sword and stubbornly protect Shu, deeming Ayase as a threat.
> 
> Scratching all that, I arrived at the idea of changing the setting to a big throne room we eventually got to see. However, in this version, Ayase was not meant to be inside Shu's subconsciousness but experience her own "Mind Game", being forced to confront all her subconscious doubts. All her friends would represent various doubts she would still have, and she would have to defeat all of them in order to overcome them and become queen. You can still see some of these remnants in this fic, as I think I kept some of the original lines from that version intact. In the end, Ayase was supposed to defeat the dark Inori who was supposed to be the manifestation of her biggest doubt. Being inferior to her. All the previous dark Inoris up to this point were mute and behaved more like ghosts or vengeful spirits. I then, however, thought it would be even cooler if she would actually talk, being the dialogue-guy that I am.
> 
> So I changed the concept again. This time into what we already got. All characters are real and were brought into Shu's subconsciousness by Inori who basically had full control over it. There were a few subversion of this version where Inori's goal had actually been a much darker one. She had brought Ayase in here to put an end to herself. By destroying Inori's last remnants, Shu would forget she had ever existed and could as a result, recover from his grief. Ultimately, it was scratched, since I couldn't think of a single way of actually making Ayase go along with it. So instead they teamed up to restore Shu together.
> 
> As you can see...this turned into quite a big chapter given how it all merely started from my desire to write an evil Inori fighting Ayase :P
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter since I sure as hell enjoyed writing it. Here are some deleted scenes I couldn't quite fit into the story as the rules changed:
> 
> Shu: *sitting on his throne, good and evil Inori sitting on their respective thrones on either of his side* *raising a brow* Did you really impale Ayase with a halberd?"
> 
> Antinori: *smirks proudly with closed eyes as she fold her arms together in front of her chest* Like a popsicle.
> 
> Posinori: *frowns in disdain* That's cold...
> 
> -GC-
> 
> Inori: Shu has actually quite the fantasy. There are a lot of versions of us around. *points at another version of herself*
> 
> Officer Inori: *blows whistle* Stop right there, criminal scum! You have violated the law!
> 
> Lawyer Inori: *adjusts glasses confidently* Objection, your honor. My guilty king can't possibly be this cute.
> 
> Nurse Inori: Please, state the nature of your medical emergency. The doctor is on the way.
> 
> Doctor Inori: It's Lupus...
> 
> Another Doctor Inori with a walking cane: It's never Lupus, idiot.
> 
> Ayase: *sweatdrop* I think I have seen enough...
> 
> Inori: *nods in agreement* The rest is boring anyway. For some reason, they are all naked...
> 
> Ayase: *blushes madly* I-Inori! I think that's supposed to be private!
> 
> Inori: *tilts head* Is that so? But there are a few of your as well, don't you want to see?
> 
> Ayase: *dies of shame*
> 
> I think that should be all. If you liked this, please don't forget to leave a review. Make an author happy. Here is the discord link again, in case you missed it the first time:
> 
> discord . gg/EcF823z
> 
> Take care, until next time!


End file.
